Mercer Flynn and the Olympians: The Goddesses' Claim
by RoWrites
Summary: A seemingly normal new camper moves into Camp Halfblood and immediately catches the attention of the infamous Stoll brothers. As she learns who she really is, she becomes increasingly torn between two worlds:the desire for a normal teenage life and her need to fulfill her destiny as one of the most powerful halfbloods who ever lived. ConnorxOC, TravisxOC
1. My Principle Turns Into a Horse

Mercer's stomach felt as if it had dropped five feet when her alarm clock blared for the fifth time that morning. She had been having the dream again. Mercer pushed aside the panicky feeling in her gut and leaped out of bed, half dressed for school wearing a ratty Sonic Youth concert t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. Mercer had a bad habit of taking naps while she was getting dressed for school.

The alarm read 7:45. _Well there goes any attempt to look halfway decent today_, she thought, knowing that school started at 8:10. Mercer grabbed a red plaid shirt that was a little too small on her and threw it on. Her parents had begged her to get rid of it, seeing as she had finally, ahem, developed over the summer and the shirt now fit her new curves snugly, but it was one of the most comfortable things Mercer owned. Plus, there was a an retro style poster poster hanging in her room with the female lead singer of one of her favorite bands, The Kills, wearing one similar to it.

She threw on a little mascara and foundation, knowing that it it was a little vain, but Mercer felt self-conscious without it. And it didn't hurt that whenever she wore eye makeup, people couldn't stop arguing over what color her eyes were. She swore that they were gray, but others claimed them to be blue, brown, green, and even the same color as her dirty blond hair. She slipped on her favorite Vans and ran downstairs into the spacious white kitchen. Her stepmother had spared no expense in remodeling the brownstone apartment, exhibited by the kitchen's stainless steel, granite countertops, and it even had a rotating breakfast display set into the island. Mercer resented her family's extravagant displays of their wealth, as it had gotten them labeled as a bunch of old money WASP's. Her room was the only place Carrie had left untouched out of respect to Mercer's "teenage independence". Mercer grabbed one of their chef's fresh baked cinnamon buns out of the display as her stepmother, Carrie placed slices of whole whole bread smeared with Nutella on a plate with half of a grapefruit. Mercer's dad was presumably already at his law firm office.

"Morning sweetie! I got you some breakfast. You know, doctor's say that a healthy breakfast is the most important aspect to starting your day" Carrie said chipperly. Carrie was nice enough, but she had always gone out of her way to accommodate Mercer out of guilt for being the stepmother. Mercer sometimes wished there were things she couldn't have just by asking for them.

"Umm, no. I'm good thanks," Mercer responded flatly. Mercer didn't intend to be mean to her most of the time, but Carrie acted so subservient to her husband's daughter that Mercer would sometimes try to anger her on purpose, just to get a reaction. She grabbed her Physics textbook and her keys from the reclaimed driftwood kitchen table and slung her overflowing backpack over her shoulder. Carrie's long auburn hair fell over her eyes as she looked down with disappointment. She really did care about Mercer, and her emotional, empathetic personality made her the perfect match to Mercer's dad Mitchell, a sensible man. She could see how they had fallen in love after Mercer's mom had bailed when she was only a baby.

Mercer took a bite of her sugary danish and mumbled a goodbye as she sped out the door and down the stairs to the street level where her beat pick-up truck was parked. Mercer had been offered far nicer and more expensive cars for her sixteenth birthday this year, but something about the old manual shift vehicle had appealed to her more. She waited in traffic for what seemed like hours, honking her horn at the New York City commuters and speeding through yellow lights to get to school on time. She sprinted through the hallways of Albright Academy, the elite Manhattan prep school she had been forced to attend. Mercer would have rather gone to public school, but as her father put it, "i've worked hard for you to have the best, so you will accept nothing less than the best." Her father was a pretty cool, relaxed parent when it came to most issues, but he was blind when it came to the privileged rich kids surrounding her at Albright.

She passed the wall Albright Alumni who later became CEO's before entering first period history, a class titled "The Rise and Rule of Single Party States". She slid into her seat next to Hunter, the school's all star defensive lineman. She hated sitting next to Hunter. He was attractive enough, with flowing black hair and green eyes with a mischievous glint that suggested he was all the right kinds of trouble. Mercer, however, had made the mistake of hooking up with him last year in the supply closet. It was a moment she was deeply embarrassed of, but at the time it had seemed like some invisible, boy-obsessed force had taken over her body and made her do that. She had a lot of moments like that last year. Mercer had made the mistake of running with the more popular crowd as a sophomore, and her exploits during that time had earned her the label of a slut.

She didn't know what it was, but when she was around a guy she knew she could have, something in her brain switched on and made her return their affections, even if she didn't like them. Mercer had no control over it last year, and she worked hard to change her image. She dropped her popular friends, and although she hadn't managed to find many new ones, and she busied herself by throwing herself into her schoolwork. Mercer had always gotten A's easily, but now she was at the top of her class despite having ADHD and dyslexia. Mercer, for the most part, didn't mind being alone. When got close to other people, she always managed to somehow screw it up.

Hunter now was attempting to snake his arm around her as the teacher walked in and said, "You should come to Heather's party this weekend, it's going to be a total rager. We could have fun like we used to." His warm breath on her ear activated the part of her that wanted to return his advances, but instead she pushed him away. Mercer had always felt empty inside. Maybe it was because her mother had left her as a baby, maybe because she never really fit in anywhere. But regardless, she had always tried to fill that hole with meaningless relationships. She had dated at least fifteen guys in her high school, and none of them had really wanted Mercer for herself. She knew this, and despite it she always let them use her. She had never wanted a real relationship, because she knew she would just mess it up. So she filled the hole inside her with more emptiness. Mr. Carns began speaking.

"Today, we are going to be learning about the actions Hitler took to consolidate his powers as Chancellor into a dictatorship, and the importance of the November criminals to his rise. First, let me take attendance," he started. Mercer actually loved history class. Most of her fellow classmates, hated Mr. Carns' emphasis of analytical skills over memorizing facts, but Mercer relished the opportunity to exercise her brain. Carns' motto in class was, "Don't be buckets", meaning that they had to search for the answers, and couldn't expect to just be given them. He was partway through the list when he stopped, looking directly at Mercer.

"Mercer Flynn?" he asked.

"Yes?" she questioned, feeling as if all eyes were suddenly on her.

"I have a note here saying that you're not supposed to be in this class right now. You are to report immediately to Principle Holston's office for a matter of urgency." Mercer's face grew heated as she gathered her things and Hunter smirked at her. What could the principle possibly need to see her for? Her grades were impeccable, she had never caused any trouble in school (this year), and all her teachers loved her.

She entered the principal's office and sat down across from Holston, their substitute principle for all of three weeks now as their regular principle was looking after her ailing mother in Kansas. Holston was an older wheelchair bound man, and his kindly attitude towards the students had won them over instantly.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she asked timidly, standing only halfway in the entrance. Mercer noticed her dad sitting opposite the principal with a worried expression on her face and her heart started beating even faster. It must have been serious if her father had come here in the middle of the work day. Holston smiled warmly at her.

"Yes dear, please take a seat. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble." Mercer breathed a sigh of relief and melted down into an office chair.

"Then what is this about? Dad, why are you here?" she asked, looking from one man to another. Mercer's father looked to Holston as if asking permission, and Holston nodded his head. Mitchell Flynn took a deep breath.

"Mercer, we're here because I haven't been entirely honest with you about your family's... origins. You see, both your birth mother and I come from very.. powerful families," he said, choosing his words carefully and keeping his eyes trained on Holston for his reaction. Holston nodded him on. Mercer knew her parents came from money, but how powerful could their families be, and why was this important?

"You see, our families were both powerful on their own, but when our two bloodlines created you, you presented a danger," he continued. He wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow. What was he talking about? He made it sound like her parents were a part of the Mafia.

"Now, because of your worth, there are a lot of people out there who would like to... hurt you," he said, choking out the last two words painfully. Sensing his distress, Holston picked up the story.

"But these bad people, are only realizing now how much you are worth, so it isn't safe for you to stay in school anymore," he said in a regrettable tone. Mercer couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were going to take her out of school?

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, "You can't take me out of school, I have to finish junior and senior year, and go to college, and prom, and-"

"I personally will be taking you to another facility where you can finish your studies in safety. I help run this facility, and I have been here the past few weeks observing, trying to sense if you were truly in any danger, which I now believe you are. Do not worry, I am sure you will find your place at our little camp," Holston said reassuringly. Mercer knew exactly what he was talking about. She had heard the speech enough times to know that they were sending her ti another stuck up private school.

"I'm not letting you send me to another place like this, but with more security. I'm sick of being trapped in these stuck up prep schools! I don't fit in with these people," she begged her father. Mitchell stood up.

"Don't you think I know that?I know you never belonged, I know you never could have belonged" he yelled, tears forming in his eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke with a sadder tone.

"I had to send you here because public schools are too dangerous and not as closely monitored. This was the safest place for you to be. But I swear, the camp will be different. I can't say any more than that, because the more you know the more danger you're in. Please Mercer, trust me on this one," he begged her. She could hear the raw pain in his voice

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your family before, but it's what was safest for you," he finished defiantly. Mercer was struck by the sudden display of emotion her normally cool as ice father was displaying.

"Please Mercer. Don't argue with me. We have to do this. I can't tell you why, but we have to." Mercer was awestruck at the sudden turn of events today had taken. She was used to changing private schools every few years because of strange events. She was reminded of the time Mercer had told her about the strange landscapers who watched all her classes through the windows, and the next day she found herself moved to Albright. But this was something different. It all sounded like complete boulogne out of some action movie about a father who was really a secret agent, but some part of her felt that what her father was saying was true. She was no longer safe in the ivy covered walls of Albright Academy.

She hadn't wanted to tell her father for fear of being moved again, but she had noticed more strange workmen performing maintenance on perfectly functioning water fountains. They seemed eerily similar to the landscapers from her own school. Mercer knew that she needed to get out of Albright, but the thought of starting over again scared her. Would she be a loner again at her new school, or camp as the adults kept referring to it? Would she go back to being that awful girl she was sophomore year? All her worries made her collapse into her father's arms crying. He stroked her hair and kept his arm around her protectively as she was escorted to a large white van that was to transport her to her new home. The logo on the side read, "Delphi Strawberry Company".

Mercer awoke in the van with a start. They had been driving for about an hour hour now, and they were almost to their destination when something was started shaking the van. Something the hit the side with a thud, poking two holes near Mercer. She shrieked as she felt a tire blow. Mr. Holston cursed under his breath from the front.

"Mercer. my dear. it seems we have some company. I'll go deal with our friend, please stay here" he said, using the handicapped lift to exit the van. Mercer heard and series of clankings and a load roar. She couldn't stand not knowing what was going on. This was all so strange. Were they being robbed?

Mercer opened the door slightly and was astounded at what she saw. Mr. Holston had left his wheelchair behind and was now standing on his own. On four feet. Because he had the body of a horse. He was using a long sword to fight off a man in a long overcoat with two-tone eyes. The man noticed her and smile wickedly. She hadn't even realized, but somehow she had stepped completely out of the van. Storm cloud raged overhead, darkening their surroundings.

"Mercer, get back in the van! I'll get rid of him, and then we just need to make it over the camp border!" he shouted, pointing to a pine tree around a quarter of a mile in the distance. But it was too late.

Despite her practically catatonic state, instinct kicked in as the man lunged violently at her. Mercer jumped up and catapulted herself off of the van's side, ricocheting over his approaching body, landing in a somersault. I guess those gymnastics and karate lessons paid off, after all, she thought. The man turned around and lunged at her again. Mercer quickly sidestepped towards Mr. Holston, enraging the monstrous thing further. Something shot out from behind the man, as if there was someone behind him throwing spikes. He gasped as a small barb stuck in his skin and he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. Mercer screamed at the sight of her principle shuddering violently. She thought she was going to be sick.

The creature lunged at her again, and she was forced to grab the dropped sword. It felt too heavy in her hands, but she managed to pick it up and run towards the line of trees off to her right. She climbed up a trunk quickly to get out of the man's reach, but she couldn't stay there long. He would find a way up there eventually. And she couldn't leave Mr. Holston down there. Whatever the man had stuck him with was poisonous. What was going on? Mr. Holston appeared to have transformed into one of the centaurs from her mythology book. And the creature below seemed too strange to be true. But here she was, up in a tree holding a sword while a deranged person waited for her to come to her death and her principle lay on the ground about to pass out from pain.

She had to think of a plan. There was no way Mercer could survive in close combat with that thing. The sword was too heavy for her to fight with. She could try dropping the sword on him, but there was no guarantee he wouldn't just move out of the way. She could hop on his back from above and kill him that way, but it's poisonously barbed tail would get to her first.

"Don't be a coward, little demigod. I'm so very tired of chasing, and I'll get up there eventually. Why not make it easier on yourself and come down? I won't kill you, at least not yet. You're too valuable," he taunted. Mercer took a sharp breath. Maybe she could trick it so she could get closer and kill it.

"Alright, I give up. You're too strong. You've defeated me," she said saying, crying into her hands and faking tears. The man smiled wickedly, thinking he had her convinced that there was no way for her to get out of this.

"Just please, give me one last request before you take me. I get one of those, right? Help me," she begged. The creature looked unsure of itself, as if it were about to give into her words, but didn't want to.

"I suppose I could, if it's simple enough. I'm not beyond reason. But I'm still going to to take you to my boss," he said quickly. Mercer smiled inwardly. She had always had a way with words.

"Of course, that's reasonable," she replied.

"I really hate my principle over there. He was a terrible man and he abused the students. He doesn't deserve to live. Please, help me to kill him Help me" she said, putting strength into her lies, willing for him to believe her. The man got a glazed look in his eyes, and he said slowly,

"I will help you." Mercer was somewhat shocked at his sudden agreement. Maybe she was a better liar than she thought. Now she had to enact her plan.

"I'm going to come down. Do not attack me."

"I will not attack you," it repeated. Mercer came down slowly, nervous that he would not keep its word. She inched towards him slowly until she was within five feet of the man. He did not move.

She would only be able to get in one good swing with the heavy sword, and she needed to figure out a way she could carry out her plan without the creature having time to react.

"I'm very tired. Could you please carry this sword for me?" she asked, trying to put force into her words again. She knew she was stretching. It was completely implausible that she couldn't carry the thing twenty feet over to Mr. Holston.

But surprisingly enough, the took it from her instantly. She started walking over slowly, keeping one eye on the man, but he made no move towards her. _Am I really that convincing?_, she thought.

"Thank you for holding that. I'll take it now," she said slowly.

Now was her chance. She put her hands on the hilt. With the man still holding it, she moved to change the direction of the sword to point at him, then quickly pushed it into his chest. Realizing too late, the man screamed and dissolved instantly into a cloud of dust. Mercer quickly ran over to Holston.

His eyes lifted up to her and he started to speak weakly.

"Get to.. the pine tree. Camp... is safe... get help... go... without .. won't kill..."

But Mercer couldn't just leave him behind. If she got there, there was no guarantee he would be alive by the time she had found help. What if there were other things out here like that man? Mercer searched the back of the now useless van for anything to help her move him, and she found large sheet of metal and some rope. It would have to do.

The metal sheet conveniently was large enough to fit Holston on and had a hole she could use to tie the rope around. She struggled to get her former principle, quite heavy now that he was the size of a horse, onto the metal. Eventually she used a sort of rolling system to move him, and it helped that he tried to be as least of a burden as he could in his weak state. She finally got him onto the board and sweaty, she moved on to getting him to camp. If her knowledge of physics was right, with the lack of friction between the metal and ground she hypothetically allow her to pull Holston as far as down the hill. It wasn't all the way to camp, but she couldn't leave him. There might be more creatures around like the one before, and should couldn't use her powers of persuasion on all of them.

She started pulling, and just as she had predicted, the downhill slope and lack of friction allowed her to move Mr. Holston with some effort. By the time she finished, she was exhausted though, and she started running towards the pine tree Holston had directed her towards. She got to the top of the hill and leaned against the pine's trunk. She screamed.

"Somebody help me!" she yelled desperately. And then she passed out.

Mercer woke up and shielded her eyes from the sunlight, and found herself covered in a blanket on the front porch of a houses. When they adjusted, amazingly she saw Mr. Holston sitting next to her, once again in his wheelchair. She remembered the horrific events of the previous day.

"Mr. Holston, how-"

"I'm fine dear, thanks to you. If it wasn't for your resourcefulness I don't think I would be sitting next to you," he said warmly.

"The van was approached by two other manticores within five minutes of our departure from the scene. I certainly have you to thank," he continued. Mercer was still in shock from everything that had happened. She didn't know how to respond so she looked at her surroundings.

She was astonished. A pine tree stood at the top of the hill, with what looked to be a shiny gold blanket hanging from it. Down below, she saw a cluster of oddly decorated camp cabins, some even glowing gold and silver. Beyond the cabins were a wide patch of strawberry fields and a pristine beach. Expanding to her right near the strawberries she saw a vast forest. Over to her left, she saw a giant rock wall that clashed together every once in awhile and spewed glowing red... lava? An arena stood close to it, and little figures of what she assumed were students circled each other in what looked like a dance. There were several buildings made out of stone with columns and pillars resembling Greek architecture. She turned to Holston incredulously.

"Exactly what kind of school are you running here Mr. Holston?" she asked, finding her voice. He chuckled.

"It's not so much as a school as it is a training camp. And Mr. Holston was just a cover. Please call me Chiron from now on," he said.

"Chiron? As in, the guy from the Greek myths, Chiron?" she asked. Mercer had a slight obsession with Greek mythology in her younger years. Something about the plight of Greek heroes had always appealed to her. Perhaps because like her, they had never seemed to truly fit in and live peacefully anywhere they went.

"Exactly like that guy from the Greek myths," he replied knowingly.

"Mercer, in the next few days you'll come to see that those stories are much closer to the truth than you thought," he said enigmatically.

A potbellied man wearing a tiger print shirt sat on the porch a few feet away. He sat at a card table shuffling a deck of cards and drinking a Diet Coke. He spoke in a bored tone barely looking up from his cards.

"Well, I guess I should say welcome to Camp Half-Blood, I'm Mr. D, blah blah blah, camp director, all powerful being, and so on. I'll warn you early to keep out of trouble and not to make my exile here any more miserable with your insufferable childish presence. The harpies have been bitter about their wages lately, and I think a demigod snack bonus would be just what they're looking for." So many confusing words swirled around in her head. Demigod? Harpies? Camp Half-Blood? She thought she had been coming to a boarding school, but this seemed like some sort of summer camp. The strangest summer camp Mercer had ever seen, to be more precise.

"Mr. Hols.. I mean Chiron, what is going on?" she asked. Chiron smiled at her. He gestured for her to stand up, which she did carefully, and led her inside the farmhouse.

"I believe I have a few things to explain to you."


	2. World's Worst Tour Guides

**Connor's Point of View**

Connor really had to pat himself and Travis on the back for this one. He couldn't believe that the they hadn't thought of it earlier. Really, they had outdone themselves.

Connor and his brother had switched out everything from from the Ares Cabin with all the possessions of the Aphrodite Cabin. And he really meant everything. Connor and his brother had gone to painstaking measures to ensure that every last detail was the same, down to the pictures of celebrities from Aphrodite and the portraits of vicious war generals from the Ares Cabin. Now when a poor, unsuspecting Aphrodite girl went to look for her eyeliner, instead they would find one of Clarisse's flails. Connor could just picture the cartoonishly angry expression on Clarisse's face when she found out her favorite iron sword was replaced by a hair curler. It was a classic.

Now they just had to wait for the cabins to return from their lessons before suggested to him that they skip strawberry picking for the day and sneak into the big house to throw grapes at the stuffed lion Seymour's head. It was an activity Connor and his brother often enjoyed. He chuckled at the way the stuffed lion's head always craned his neck trying to catch the fruit, but became enraged when he realized it was impossible.

Connor was wondering how they could go bigger and better with their next prank. Maybe they could put pink hair dye in the Ares Cabin's shampoo? Or was that too cliche?

He was staring off into the distance with that infamous Stoll mischievous glint in the eye when he and Travis arrived at the big house. All plans for the afternoon stopped dead when he saw her.

Her straight dirty blond hair fell in a thick curtain halfway down her back. Even from a distance he could make out her beautiful, big almond shaped eyes. At first he thought they were gray, but then he thought he saw a full spectrum of green to brown to blue. She was petite and tiny, and couldn't have been taller than Connor's shoulder. She had delicate facial features and full lips. It might have been weird to think about it, but looking at them made him imagine what kissing her would be like. Everything about her gave off an aura of intelligence and gravitated him towards her. She was obviously new, because Connor knew just about every camper at Camp Half-Blood.

She looked... confused. She walked over the edge of the porch and leaned against a beam. She put her head in her hands. Connor instantly felt sympathetic. He wanted to rush over and start comforting her.

"Dude, should we go che..." Travis had started. Connor was already jogging over to introduce himself to this beautiful girl. He didn't even know her yet, but something about her told him that she was special.

"Hey," he said, smiling that lopsided grin that had gotten him know as a troublemaker from a young age. He became instantly self conscious of his messy hair and tried to comb his fingers through it causally. She looked up and tried to smile weakly towards him. Travis ran up and stood beside his brother.

"I'm Connor Stoll, and this my my brother, Travis. Look, I'm not trying to be creepy, but you looked really upset, and we were wondering if there was anything wrong. Is this your first day here?" he asked sympathetically. She nodded.

"Yeah. Is it that obvious?" she said smiling weakly again.

"Kind of. Don't worry, Connor and I had that same puppy dog look on our faces our first day here," Travis said, putting his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She relaxed under his touch. Connor thought back to his first days here, and how going through missing home had been so much easier with his brother to go through it with him. He couldn't imagine how she felt all on her own.

"What's your name?" Connor asked. Her big changing eyes flickered up at him and a piece of blond hair fell in her face.

"Mercer Flynn."

"Well, Mercer, I bet you're feeling pretty surprised and confused right now. You've just been told that you've been lied to your entire life, right?" She nodded  
"That's completely normal. Well, as normal as it gets around here. I can tell you right now, it's going to be a lot easier if you have a friend. Or two. So, would you like the official tour of Camp Half-Blood from two of it's finest, most upstanding citizens?" he asked, linking his arm through hers jovially.

"What say ye, fair maiden?" Travis added comically, taking her other arm in his. Mercer let a small laugh escape as Connor got in on the act, clicking his heels together.

"I say it sounds like an absolutely smashing idea. I've never met such handsome knights before in all my days in this kingdom," she said in a false British accent, smiling again for real now looking between the two. Her smile made him feel as if a large weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, and Connor hadn't even realized the weight was there. Gods, her smile was beautiful. He wanted to make her laugh again, just to see it. His heart started fluttering involuntarily when she looked at him. _Stop it Connor_, he scolded himself, y_ou just met her, stop acting like a complete fool_.

"Well then, we ride!" he shouted, and he and Travis started dragging her towards the rest of camp, skipping while she laughed. They slowed down a bit as they approached the training area of camp.

"So Mercer, is your mom or your dad your godly parent?" Travis asked casually, making small talk as they walked. _Please don't say it's her dad_, Connor hoped. He didn't want there to be any chance they were related. Not that he was thinking of her that way... but he was thinking of her that way. He couldn't help it. She shrugged.

"I guess my mom. This is just all so strange, you know? I mean, I never knew my mom, but now I find out she's an actual, honest-to-goodness goddess? It's all a little hard to believe," she said, biting her lip and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I know exactly how you feel. But Camp Half-Blood is the coolest place ever. I know you're going to love it here," Connor comforted her. She smiled at him again.

"So where are we going?" Connor and Travis led her to the arena, where she stood in awe of the big marble structure. Her shocked face was adorable.

"This here,i s where all of use demigods come to practice sword-fighting and chariot racing. We don't have any actual horses, so we kind of just have to stand in the chariots and pretend we're racing," Connor said. She looked at him in shock.

"Really?" she said skeptically. Travis nodded, playing along

"Oh yeah, Connor over here is excellent at making horse noises for us." Connor whinied and nuzzled Mercer's arm, kicking at the ground. She burst out laughing and pushed him away playfully.

"You guys are the worst!" she shouted as Travis knelt down in front of her.

"Would the lady care for a ride on her trusty steed?" Travis asked, laughing along. Connor was doubled over next to them. Her laughter was infectious.

"I think the lady would, fair knight," she responded. Climbing onto Connor's brother for a piggyback ride. Connor felt a pang of jealousy, wishing he was in his brother's place. At least they had gotten her out of the funk she was in earlier.

"Onward, steed!" she yelled, pointing nowhere. Travis reared back and ran forward, Connor following.

Most of the tour went this way, with the boys making up phony facts about the camp as they showed her the rest of the camp. As they passed by other campers, all the boys kept doing double-takes and all the Aphrodite girls gave Mercer glares. Connor couldn't blame them. It wasn't just that she was beautiful, her smile was kind and people gravitated towards her.

The look on her face when she saw the rock wall was priceless.

"I actually have to climb that thing tomorrow?" she asked incredulously, gazing upwards at the structure. Connor chuckled.

"Don't worry, it's it as bad as it seems," he reassured her.

"Don't laugh at me! How is this safe?"

"It's not safe, that's kinda the point. Just move quickly, and the satyrs will catch you if you fall... usually," Travis added. She pivoted towards him.

"Usually?!" Connor grabbed her arm and decided it would be best to go somewhere else. Their last stop on the tour was the cabins. As they arrived, she walked towards them slowly.

"They're beautiful," she remarked, gazing at the glowing silver of the Artemis Cabin. Connor couldn't help but stare at her pensive expression, mystified by her thoughtfulness. _I wonder what she's thinking about._

"You know, when you first told me about the cabins, I thought when I got here I would feel a connection to my mom's. You know, I would get here and I would just know. But I don't feel... anything," she said, exasperated and throwing her hands up in the air as she sat on the stoop of the Hermes Cabin. She put her head in her hands. Connor rushed over and sat beside her.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm sure you'll be claimed soon enough. It's only your first day here," he said running his hand comfortingly over her back. He tucked a piece ofher hair that had fallen in her face over her ear. Travis sat down on her other Now I'm here at camp, where people like me are supposed to belong, but what if I don't belong here either? What if they made some sort of mistake and I shouldn't be here?" she said, her voice cracking.

"That's the beauty of Camp Half-Blood. You do belong here. Don't ask me how I know, but I think you're a very powerful demigod. I can feel it," Connor said, smiling at her. He really wanted her to smile again.

"You think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Definitely. And you'll be staying in the Hermes Cabin with us until you're claimed. Which will happen" Travis said reassuringly. Connor's brother reached over and wiped a tear out of her eye. She smiled warmly again at the two and Connor's heart lifted.

"Thank you so much for everything today. For giving me the tour, for making me laugh, and giving me some new friends. I don't know what I would have done if I was all alone," she said as the threesome stood up.

"No problem. We were happy to help, fair maiden" Connor said, beaming at her. She laughed slightly.

"Who do you think my mom could be?" she asked, hopping in front of the boys, resuming her playful manner. Connor stopped her, positioning her straight on front of his face and screwing up his expression in concentration.

"I don't know. I thought Artemis at first, because you seem really smart. But now..." he said, mock appraising as Travis walked around her in a circle.

"I see what you mean, young brother. She's far too pretty for Artemis, perhaps she's an Aphrodite airhead..." Travis continued seriously. Mercer laughed and slapped Travis playfully on the arm.

"You two really are terrible," she laughed. Out of the corner of his eye, Connor spotted the Aphrodite cabin returning from pegasus riding lessons at the stables. He smiled mischievously at his brother.

"Want to see something truly hilarious?" he asked Mercer. She gave him a puzzled expression as the brothers dragged her behind a bush with a view of the Aphrodite Cabin. 5, 4, 3, 2...

A sharp scream came out of the cabin as their head counselor Drew walked out fighting to disentangle herself from a poster of some famous American general from World War Two.

"STOLL!" she screamed, stomping her foot and looking around with a murderous look in her eyes. Connor glanced over as he tried to contain his laughter and saw Mercer to be rolling around on the ground doing the same.

"Did you do this?" she asked. Connor shrugged humbly and smiled at her. Travis reached over and started tickling her. She burst out laughing as he did so, and Connor felt that twinge of jealously again.

"Stop it! They're going to hear us!" she shouted quietly, pushing Travis away.

"Come on, let's head over to the dinner before Clarisse comes back. We don't want to be anywhere near here when she finds this," Connor said, slightly annoyed. Connor knew Travis and his girlfriend Katie had just broken up, but it had only been a week since they ended things.

"Yeah, you're right," he said, taking Mercer's hand and helping her sit up and a few giggles escaped her lips. They snuck behind the cabins and entered to the delicious smells of the dining pavilion. Connor held Mercer's hand and led her inside.

**Travis' Point of View**

Travis thought Mercer was one of the sweetest girls he had ever met. It was her first day, and she was freaking out, but she still made efforts to smile. Her smile was so charismatic. It was the kind of smile that made you feel like you were the most important person in the room, that what you were saying was incredibly interesting to her. She just made everyone feel good to be around her. After the negative events that had happened with Katie, Travis needed positivity.  
Two weeks ago, Katie had decided to go to a normal high school. That's when everything in their relationship went to Hades. Katie knew the dangers that being away from Camp Half-Blood as a demigod would present. Travis would have been fine with a long distance relationship, but she had told him that she never was never coming back to camp. Ever. Not even during the summer. And then she gave him an ultimatum. If Travis didn't come with her, she was going to break up with him.

Travis thought it was incredibly immature and he told her that. The spent the next week fighting and screaming at each other until they finally broke up. Or she made it seem like they did. She left exactly a week later. She didn't even say goodbye. Travis assumed that that had been the end of things.

And now he had met Mercer. Smart, funny, bubbly Mercer. After they made their offerings to the gods, a practice she found intriguing, she sat down in between him and Connor. Her infectious laughter filled up the parts of him that still felt heart broken inside. She was amazed at the magical food that appeared at will on her plate. She bit into her waffles, an amusing choice for dinner. Connor reached over and stole a piece of her bacon as she focused on building what appeared to be a waffle house. Travis reached over and started helping her, making a door out of a piece of bacon. She laughed at their creation once they had finsihed making a waffle castle, complete with a drawbridge and turrets.

They had gotten the attention of the entire Hermes table. Mercer had won over all of them. People couldn't help but laugh along with her. Travis and Connor introduced her to a few of their half-siblings, and she greeted them all kindly. Mercer started up a conversation with their half-sister, Julia.

"Is there anything you think I should know about the Stoll brothers?" Mercer asked, teasingly elbowing Tavis. Julia was one of Travis' favorite half-sisters. She had a wicked sense of humor when it came to pranks. Julia smirked.

"The Stolls are infamous around here for their pranking. I'd watch your back around them,or they might just put shaving cream in your slippers tonight," she replied. Mercer raised an eyebrow at Travis questioningly.

"Really?" she asked.

"Guilty as charged," he said, shrugging his arms sheepishly, "couldn't you tell from the spectacle you witnessed earlier?"

"By the way, nice job on that one guys," Julia complimented them offhandedly.

"Thank you, thank you," Connor said, taking a little bow. Mercer looked at them skeptically.

"Maybe sleeping in your cabin isn't the best idea," she said reproachfully.

"No that's not necessary," Travis said quickly. His cheeks grew red at his quick response.

"What my brother means to say is that we don't bite. You'll be perfectly safe with us, I promise" Connor said, saving his older brother from embarrassment.

"Okay, then," she said smiling at them.

Travis could tell she was exhausted from meeting new people and the emotional rollercoaster of the day, so at the campfire after dinner he and Connor sat alone with her off the the side. They were still part of the group, but is was a little more peaceful.

They spent the entire night singing camp songs loudly and off key to get her to laugh, and she joined in on the fun. Mercer laughed as he burst out in a high pitched voice, leaning against his arm.

One of the senior campers, Percy Jackson, stood up and quieted the campers.

"I would like to welcome our newest camper, Mercer Flynn to camp," he announced.

"Everyone, please give Mercer a real Camp Half-Blood welcome!" Everyone at the camp for stood up and started cheering for her. The fire glowed bright orange with the mood of the campers. Mercer smiled widely, laughing. Connor lifted her up on his shoulders and started whooping. As everyone sat down, Connor put her down gently.

"Wouldn't want to break you," he said.

"I'm tougher than you think," Mercer retorted. Just then, a younger camper, Mira, from the Apollo cabin walked over with her half-brother, Will Solace. Will was a good guy, and Travis respected him.

"Umm, excuse me?" said the ten year old girl.

"Yes?" Mercer respond with a kind little girl blushed and looked down at her feet.

"Sorry, she's really shy. Mira, here, wanted to meet the famous Mercer Flynn," Will said, speaking for his half-sister.

"Yes I am. May I ask why I'm famous?" Mercer responded.

"Because they say you talked a manticore into killing itself and saved Chiron. Everyone knows who you are. I'm Will by the way," he said, smiling at her. Mercer's cheeks grew red.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you Mira. And just to let you know, manticores aren't all what they're cracked up to be. I'll bet by the time you're thirteen, you could beat one just as easily," Mercer said, leaning in as if she was sharing a secret. Will took his half-sister back to the spot where the cabin was leading the sing-along, and Travis looked at Mercer questioningly.

"You didn't tell us about the manticore," he said teasingly. Mercer's cheeks grew even redder.

"It's not something I thought was important," she mumbled. Mercer turned her attention back to the festivities. Travis wanted to ask her more, but he could sense she didn't want to talk about it.

They walked back from the campfire together to the cabins, joking and teasing each other. Mercer wasn't one of those girls who was afraid to joke back and poke fun at guys, and didn't just laugh at everything they said. She wasn't one of those girls who acted like a fool around guys.

Travis was really looking forward to getting to know her better. People could tell just by looking at her that she was something special. He couldn't quite figure her out. One minute she'd be coy and playful, the next serious. It was obvious that she was very intelligent, but at the same time she made effort not to show off about it. He could sense that at all times she was on guard, holding back something from everyone.

They walked into the Hermes cabin and got into bed, Mercer lying in a sleeping bag next to Travis' bed while Conner slept in the top bunk. Julia was in a bunk on the opposite side, there to make sure they didn't "try any funny business". Travis had blushed when Julia pulled him aside and made that comment and had insisted that he didn't like Mercer that way. Julia had just given him a resigned look and walked away.

He wasn't sure how he felt about Mercer yet, seeing as he had just broken up with Katie and he didn't really know her that well. Before falling asleep, a sleepy Mercer turned to Travis as Connor snored loudly.

"Travis?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks. For everything today."


	3. The Ares Cabin Loses Its Cool

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer couldn't believe her luck. Her first day would have been a complete disaster without the Stolls there to cheer her up. She felt so fortunate to already have two great friends.

She missed her family like crazy. It was weird to think that she wouldn't see her father for a very long time. Mercer's dad was almost like a brother to her. They could talk about anything. Mercer's father was a senior partner at a criminal law form, and he barely made it home before midnight most nights. But he cared about his daughter's life, and they had a deal to go to the movies every Saturday to catch up, no matter what was going on at his firm. It was Saturday today, and it was weird to think that she wasn't going to see him.

At least she had Connor and Travis. And it didn't hurt that they were pretty attractive either, she admitted to herself. She frequently caught herself gazing into the brothers' mischievous blue eyes. If Travis hadn't bit slightly taller than his younger brother, they would have been identical.

But Mercer didn't allow herself to think about that as she woke up next to the boys the next day. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with them. She yawned and stretched on the floor, her back sore from her sleeping quarters. As much as she liked being with the boys, Mercer would have liked to have her own bed in a cabin. Anytime you wanted to claim me now would be fine, Mom, she thought bitterly.

Mercer was confused. The Stolls had told her that demigods had to be claimed by the time they were sixteen, and that usually it happened within the first few hours of arriving at camp. So where as her mother? Why hadn't she been claimed yet?

Mercer hadn't wanted to talk to Travis about the manticore last night, because she herself didn't really know what had happened. It had scared her. Mercer always had know that she held some sort of power over others, but exactly how dangerous was her control?

Mercer brushed the bitter thoughts aside and looked to see Connor already lacing up his sneakers.

"Morning. You snore, you know," he said teasingly. Mercer chucked her pillow at him. It had been sent along with her clothes and other important things from home, including her ukulele.

"I do not! You're the one who sounded like a goose with a head cold," she retorted indignantly. He chuckled at her. His curly dark was messy and his blue eyes shone, probably thinking of his next prank.

"Well you better hurry up if you're going to take a shower, Everyone else is heading for breakfast," he said. Mercer just now noticed that all the bunks were empty. She swore to herself, running to the showers after Connor agreed to wait for her. He threw her a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt since she didn't have one of her own yet. Mercer, despite her rush, found herself singing in the shower. She hadn't done that for months. She was singing "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. She ran out and smeared some mascara across her eyelashes, her typical makeup routine and threw on Connor's t-shirt. It smelled like boy, but in a good way. Like dirt and campfires and soap.

She ran out to meet Connor and they started walking towards the dining pavilion. Connor nudged her playfully.

"I didn't know you could sing," he said, smiling his mischievous lopsided grin. Mercer blushed. He had heard her?

"Yeah, it's not something I really do that often," she replied, looking down. She was slightly embarrassed that he had heard.

"You're really good. You know, the Apollo cabin's hosting an open mike tonight. You should think about singing" he suggested. Was she really that good? She could picture herself strumming a guitar peacefully with all her friends around. She liked that picture.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to take the spotlight away from the Apollo guys. They're really good. And besides, I really wouldn't want to stand up there alone" she replied smiling a bit. She was proud that someone had heard her and thought she was good. Connor jumped in front of her and started walking backwards.

"Well then, get Will to play with you. I'm sure he would love it by the way he was looking at you last night," he teased. Mercer's face grew hotter.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice him checking you out last night," he said.

"He was not! He was just helping out his little sister," she said defensively.

"Sure, he wasn't just using that as an excuse to talk to you," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and grinning even wider.

"He wasn't! Just for that maybe I will ask him to play with me," she said defiantly.

"Be my guest. I don't think you have it in you. You're a shower singer, never going to have the guts to get up on stage. Never have, never will," he replied as they walked into the pavilion. Mercer couldn't believe Connor thought Will was attracted to her. She strutted rebelliously over to Will just to prove to Connor he was wrong and she wasn't going to let his comments get to her. She asked him if he wanted to work on the song with her for the next campfire. He beamed and said yes happily.

"I'll tell my siblings to leave a spot open for us in the lineup," he told her. They made plans to practice quickly before dinner. They both knew the song she wanted to sing pretty well, so practicing was just a precautionary step.

Mercer waltzed over to the Hermes table after giving an offering to Hermes. She didn't have a godly parent yet, so she figured she might as well thank the guy whose cabin she was staying in. She sat next to Julia and across from the boys.

"I'm singing at the campfire tonight," she said, somewhat disbelieving. Why was she doing this again?  
"Congrats! I'm actually getting a little sick of camp songs, if you can believe that. It'll be a welcome change," Julia said, giving her a rough pat on the back. Julia was a tall, thin, athletic brunette with long fingers that suggested she could pick your pocket clean at a moment's notice and you would never know what hit you. She was Mercer's first female friend at camp. Connor smirked at her.  
"We'll see you up there tonight I guess, then," he said.

"Yeah. I guess you will," she said, smiling slightly to herself. Mercer was actually kind of glad she was doing it. She had always had dreams of playing in front of people, just to share her love of music, but she had always been too frightened, She didn't want to make a fool out of herself. And now she could play with Will, and wouldn't be completely alone.

They all finished breakfast quickly and Mercer checked her schedule. Apparently, she had weapons practice with Travis and Julia first. Mercer gulped. Her first day of actual training, and they were shoving her right into sword fights? Julia saw the worried look on her face and assured her that she would be fine.  
"We'll watch out for you, right Travis," she said, elbowing him and smirking.

"Yeah, we'll keep you safe," he mumbled. What's that all about?, she thought.

At weapons practice, their teacher was Percy Jackson. Julia told her he was one of the most senior campers there, and one of the best sword fighters. He had deep green eyes like the sea and dark black hair. His girlfriend, Annabeth Chase was helping to teach the class that day.  
Annabeth took her aside to the weapons shed, telling her that while she would be practicing with a sword today, she needed to pick out a weapon of her own. It was a camp tradition.

Mercer stepped into the shed and was instantly overwhelmed by the number of things you could kill someone with. There were guns, knives, swords, spears, and other wicked looking objects.

"You certainly don't want a spear, that would be too big for someone your size," she said, trailing off. Mercer examined a long row of swords. They didn't seem right either.

"How about a dagger? They're great for smaller fighters like you," Annabeth suggested. Mercer shook her head. Something about the thought og being in such close quarters to injure her opponents made her feel sick.

"Well until you figure it out, let's find you a sword that will work for practice today." Annabeth started digging through the sword collection as Mercer wandered around. She was drawn towards a golden bow hidden in the corner, collecting dust. Annabeth, noticing her choice, walked over to examine it.

"Interesting," Annabeth mumbled.

"What?" Mercer questioned.

"Nothing. That bow just has a lot of history. It's last owner Lee Fletcher, died defending Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth informed her somberly.

Mercer's breath stopped. Did she really want a weapon that belonged to a dead guy? But something about the bow had drawn her to it.

"Mercer, don't let it's former owner intimidate you. In fact, most of the weapons here have deceased owners. That's the way the world works for demigods. Fighting with a bow will be more difficult, because you will have to be able to use a sword for close combat as well. But I can tell this bow was meant for you," Annabeth told her. Mercer knew she was right. This bow was Mercer's. Annabeth handed her a sword to try. It was a perfect fit, too. It was just the right weight, not too long or too heavy.

They went back to practice. Annabeth brought Percy over to work with Mercer privately for a while, seeing as she was far below everyone else. He taught her a few basic parries and defensive maneuvers, along with some offensive thrusts. They started practicing each in turn, like a slow dance. Mercer had been agile and athletic from a young age because of her karate and gymnastics training. Percy started speeding up, sensing that she was getting a little bored. He started throwing in new moves, blocks and turns and swift arcs. She met his blade every time, getting in a few jabs of her own as their waltz turned up to the speed of a foxtrot. Percy swiped at her feet and she jumped. Surprised at her sudden reaction, Percy lost his focus for half a second. Mercer took the opportunity and went to jab the hilt of her sword into his chest. He recovered quickly, however, knocked her sword out of her hand. He jabbed his own hilt into her, knocking her to the ground. He smirked.  
"Good job, but better luck next time," he said and offered her his hand. She took it and panted as she got up.

"That. Was... Tiring," she said with emphasis.

"You learn pretty quickly. I wasn't half as good on my first day of training."

"Really?" she asked hopefully. She was glad she was halfway decent at something, and not a complete failure her first day.

"Really. Isadore, get over," Percy called for a girl she recognized from the Ares cabin. She wore a pair of Ray-Bans and looked like an extra from an action movie. Isadore was one of the few spear fighters in the class.

"Let's see how you do with different weapons," Percy challenged her. He gave her a few pointers for fighting against someone with a spear before setting them off. It was definitely a challenge, but she liked that Percy believed in her enough to do so.

Mercer had been fending her off for a few minutes now. Slowly, a small crowd gathered around her. Mercer's cheeks grew hot. She didn't want to be that upstart new girl by defeating someone from the Ares. She just wanted to glide through camp without an issue. However, she knew that Percy would know if she held anything back. She gave it her all in the last few minutes, managing to knock the girl's spear out of her hand and pointed her sword at Isadore's throat.

Everyone was silent. Isadore's eyes were raging. Mercer stood awkwardly for a few seconds like that before Travis started slowly clapping. The rest joined in, mouths agape. Isadore stomped angrily off leaving Mercer all alone in the middle of the circle that had formed. Sensing her discomfort, Percy cleared his throat

"Alright, nothing to see here people. Lesson's over." The small crowd dispersed. it really hadn't been anything, just beginner's luck. Mercer had noticed in the last few seconds that Isadore's shoe had come untied and she had started to lose her balance after tripping on one of the laces. If it hadn't been for that small detail, Mercer would have been the one with the weapon pointed at her. She would have to find Isadore later and make sure there weren't any hard feelings between them. Travis caught up to her as they got to the rock wall for climbing lessons.

"So, that was kind of amazing," he said in an expectant tone. He thought she was going to celebrate her victory with him.

"That wasn't amazing, that was humiliating," she said bitterly. Travis gave her a confused look.

"I completely humiliated Isadore. I can't believe I might already have an enemy. Everyone already thinks I'm something special because of the whole thing with the manticore, and now I'm going to get even more attention from this. I just want to fly under the radar for the rest of the day," she said, trying to be more positive towards the end. She didn't want to burden Travis with all her troubles, but it was tempting to rant.

"Well I know something you probably won't be good at. It could help lower expectations," he said, giving her a puckish smile and pointing upwards towards the wall.

It truly was a wall, literally and figuratively. The thing was a roadblock. An obstacle. A feat of impossibility. I there had been a concrete object standing in between her and fitting in at Camp Half-Blood, it would be in the shape if this wall.

"Do you want to know how hard climbing this wall is going to be?" Mercer asked him. He chuckled.

"How hard?"

"It is going to be so hard that spending the next ten weeks playing pinochle with Mr. D actually seems preferable to climbing this wall," she stated.

"Come on. it won't be that bad. Most people only get minor burns their first time climbing it," he reasoned. Mercer gaped at him. Most?

Off to her left stood a burly girl with her arms crossed, glaring at Mercer.

"Hey Travis, is there any reason Ms. Sourpuss over there is giving me the death stare?" Mercer asked. It was really creeping her out. Mercer met the girl's intimidating glare, then quickly looked away. Travis' face took on a worried expression.

"Umm, that's Clarisse. Ares cabin. Just ignore it" he said quietly, looking down at his shoes. Ares? As in, the girl from the cabin I just embarrassed? This is not good, she thought. She looked like she was imagining Mercer at the wrong end of her sword. Mercer would have to go up to her afterwards and explain what had happened. Now Clarisse was practicing her shot put with a few a few balls she had found nearby, all the time keeping her gaze trained on Mercer. In her daze, Travis volunteered her to go up the wall first, probably trying to get her away from Clarisse.

Before she knew what was happening, Mercer found herself strapped into a helmet and on her way up the wall. It actually wasn't as difficult as she expected. Rock climbing was all about strategy, something she was good at. About halfway up, her grip slipped and she found herself dangling back and forth, holding on with one hand. She could see a fresh batch of lava rushing towards the spot where held on. She panicked.

It's ok Mercer, calm down. Just use physics, she thought. Swinging back and forth, she used her own pendulum motion to propel herself sideways to the other end of the wall. It reminded her of being on the monkey bars as a kid. She dropped a few feet down and had to sacrifice some height, but she managed to stay out of the lava's path. She heard cheering from down below. When she started to climb again, she felt something large and heavy hit her shoulder. Pain burst through, and Mercer let go of the wall out of shock.

She screamed as she fell twenty feet to the ground, her stomach dropping like a ton of bricks. But then a pair of strong arms caught her just as she was about to hit the ground. It was Travis. They looked in each other in the eye briefly before MErcer hugged him tight, saying "thank you" into his shoulder.

She couldn't believe she had just fallen off the wall and hadn't broken anything. Travis had probably saved her life. He set her down gently and hugged her back. He turned around and let go.

"You did that on purpose Clarisse," he spat. Clarisse walked over to them innocently.

"It's not my fault that my hand slipped and I just happened to hit her. I'm not sorry I did, though. From what I hear, she's a dirty little cheater," she said, glaring at Mercer.

"Do you realize you could've killed her? And she won that fight, fair and square. I'm telling Chiron about this" he retorted, venom in his voice. Mercer didn't want this to escalate further.

"Travis, stop. You're just making it worse," she said softly. Clarisse faked a smile.

"I would listen to your little girlfriend if I were you, Travis. You don't want tell Chiron about this little incident. After all, you wouldn't want him to hear about that little prank you pulled yesterday, would you? I hear, that he's threatening to put you on kitchen duty with the harpies for the rest of the year if he hears about you pranking the cabins again," she threatened. Travis' face grew red with anger and embarrassment. Clarisse had him.

"You can't just do stuff like this, Clarisse. You're going to hurt someone," he said, putting his arm protectively around Mercer. Mercer hated being a victim, and she shoved his arm off.

"Travis stop, I can handle my own battles," she said.

"Clarisse, I didn't cheat. Isadore's shoe was untied, and she had lost her balance. It was beginner's luck, nothing more. I really didn't mean to embarrass her," she said in a strong, kind voice. She hated making enemies on her first day. Clarisse just snarled her lip at her.

"I don't care what you have to say. I don't listen to cheaters, especially ones who lie about it. You just crossed the entire Ares cabin, new girl," Clarisse responded venomously. She turned on her heel and stomped away, leaving Mercer dumbfounded at the events that just transpired.

"Clarisse acts tough, but on the inside she's just looking out for her cabin members. She's just a little heated right now. I think it would be stupid for her to try anything else like that little stunt she just pulled, and she knows it too." Mercer didn't respond and looked down at her feet. She was too worried at the prospect of getting her face smashed in to take in what Travis was saying. Travis put his hand on the back of her head, and leaned down to look into her eyes, stroking her hair with his thumb.

"Look, Merce, I don't care what happens to me or Connor. I'll tell Chiron about the prank if it will get Clarisse to stop harassing you. No matter the consequences." Merce?, she thought. My dad's the only one who ever called me that. Mercer had been named after her great-grandmother's maiden name. Her father said that she was the woman he respected most from their family. It was probably because not only had Mercer's mother left her, her dad's mother had left Mercer's father as a child as well.

The usual trademark Stoll cocky confidence left his voice, replaced by something softer. Mercer looked into his deep blue eyes. She had only known him for a day, but right there she could tell he would really turn himself in for her. The connection they had was deeper than normal. She could feel it with Connor, too. Something in their destinies had determined that they would all become a large part of each other's lives.

"No, don't do that. Like I said, I can fight my own battles," Mercer responded, a sly smile coming tentatively across her lips. Travis grinned.

"Now that's the Mercer I like to see."


	4. Claiming Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be

Mercer's Point of View

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, if you don't count Mercer getting a few laughs from the Ares cabin members watching when she fell off the pegasus during riding lessons. She ate lunch with the boys and Julia at the Hermes table, and even managed to make a few new friends in her classes. She actually made friends with a girl from the Ares cabin named Tess. She promised to put in a good word for Mercer with Clarisse.

She was laughing with Tess and a girl from the Aphrodite cabin named Ellie on their way back from strawberry picking when Connor ran up behind her.

Connor's Point of View

"Hey," he said, smiling with his black hair flopping in his face, his cheeks red from running. He had just come back from an intense training session with Percy. Ellie raised her eyebrows at Mercer and smirked.

"Tess, I think it's time we take off," Ellie said, grabbing the Ares girl by the arm and jogging off while they both laughed. What was that about? _Do they think we're a couple or something?_, Connor thought. Not that he would have minded dating a girl as beautiful as Mercer, but she looked a little uncomfortable at Ellie's comment. _Stupid Aphrodite girl_, he thought bitterly.

"Hey," she responded casually as Connor put his arm around her.

"So, rumor has it that you have started a little fight with Clarisse on your first day. I have to hand it to you Mercer, you seem to have an uncanny ability for getting into trouble. Are you sure you aren't related to Hermes?" he joked, bumping her with his hip. Mercer groaned.

"I did not mean to get in a fight with anyone! Why won't people believe that I beat Isadore fairly?" she said angrily. She looked frustrated as she ran her hand through her hair. Connor took his arm away from her and held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, I'm not saying that I believe you cheated. I just think the whole thing is funny. You really shouldn't let Clarisse get to you. She seems all tough and scary, but we've been through a lot together. Clarisse is a good person. I'll talk to her later," he said. His blue eyes matched her multi-colored ones with care. Mercer grinned at him.

"Stop staring at me like that," she said. Connor's cheeks grew warm.

"Like what?" he said innocently, instantly looking down at his feet. He had been staring.

"Like you're falling in loooove with me or something," she teased, rolling her eyes. Connor's heart started beating faster.

"I'm not falling in loooove with you. We're friends," he insisted. Mercer rolled her eyes again, unconvinced.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm a Mexican bullfighter. I know that look, Connor. I have experienced that look many times before. That look earned me a reputation I'm not too proud of. So please stop giving me that look," she said smiling, almost more jokingly than anything. Connor knew she was trying to put on a teasing attitude, but she was serious about this. Conor had tried to keep all romantic thoughts about her out of his head. Do I like her?

"How do I know you weren't a Mexican bullfighter? I have know idea what kind of person you were before Camp Halfblood," he joked back. Mercer smirked at him.

"I don't think you would have liked me so much if you had met me back then," she said cynically. Connor was about to respond to her vague comments, but at that moment Will Solace ran up and grabbed her for rehearsal before he could.

"Sorry Connor, I'll see you later," she yelled over her shoulder, laughing as Will slung her across his back like a bag of flour. Ever since she had gotten there, Connor had noticed there was something about Mercer that made it impossible for guys to keep their hands off of her.

At dinner that night, Connor tried to talk to Mercer about what she had said earlier about her former reputation, but she had sat in the middle of Travis and Julia and had talked to them the whole time. Connor couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when Travis and Mercer started a mini food fight between each other with Travis' spaghetti. Travis won when Mercer finally gave up and started picking bits of meatball out of her hair.

"I am the king of spaghetti!" he stood up and declared.

"I decree that the loser, my faithful queen, shall feed me the remaining portion of our battle weapons as penalty for her loss," he said, sitting back down and opening his mouth expectantly. Mercer laughed widely, showcasing her brilliant smile. She fed his brother lit bits of meatball as he sat triumphantly with his arms crossed. Connor brooded the entire time. _He's certainly wasted no time moving on from Katie_, he thought bitterly.

Connor left the dining pavilion early that night and sat in the cabin, waiting for the talent show.

Mercer's Point of View

Mercer felt like she was going to throw up. Travis had done a good job distracting her at dinner that night, but there was no escaping the fact that she had signed up to perform in front of fifty or so people. Why was she doing this?

She sat next to Will on the beach waiting, guitar in his hands. She would have played, but she didn't want another thing to worry about. Will had been great in all this. He was patient with her nerves while they were practicing, and he had reassured her at the end that they sounded great together.

The annual talent show on the beach was mostly dominated by the Apollo kids, with a few Aphrodite girls performing dances. Mercer couldn't stop her hands from shaking. Will put his hand on hers reassuringly.

"You're going to be great," he said encouragingly. Mercer panicked.

"I'm sorry, I just need a minute," she said, getting up and walking away from the beach. Mercer had gotten to the end of the sand when she heard footsteps behind her. It was Travis.

"Merce, what are you doing?" he questioned.

"I-I can't do this. I'm going to look ridiculous after all those Apollo kids. I have to go," she said, turning to leave. Travis grabbed her arm.

"Mercer, you're just nervous. I know you can do this. I've only known you for about twenty-four hours, and I already know you're one of the bravest, most amazing, kindest people I've ever met. You talked down a manticore, stood up to Clarisse, and have made me laugh countless times. I see how incredible you are, and as soon as you get up there, everyone else is going to see it too," he said, taking her hand in his own.

"I don't know. What if I forget the lyrics?" she trailed off.

"I know every word. Just look at me the entire time, I'll be mouthing the words," he said soothingly, still holding her hands as he stared into her eyes.

"Are you ready to go back down there?" he asked. Mercer nodded. He started to let go of her hands as they walked down, but Mercer quickly took it back. She found it comforting.

"Don't let go," she said panickedly. He grinned.

"I would never."

They sat holding hands in the audience the entire time until it was time for Mercer and Will to go up. He gave her one last smile and squeezed her hand as she walked nervously up to the front to join will. They stood in front of the audience as Will played the first few tentative notes to "Rio" by Hey Marseilles. The song wasn't meant to be sung as a duet, but somehow it had worked perfectly between them while they were rehearsing. And then Mercer sang.

She was shocked at the melodious tone that burst out of her. She locked eyes with Travis, smiling as he mouthed the words encouragingly with her singing. Mercer felt amazing at Will burst in on the chorus and she sang the harmony to his melody. It was the best three minutes of her life. The song was all about traveling and moving on, something she could relate to at Camp Halfblood. Mercer wanted to reinvent herself and leave her past behind.

The song ended, and the audience stood on it's feet clapping and cheering. Mercer covered her mouth and laughed. She couldn't believe the amazing reaction her music was getting. It felt so good to have that many people cheering for you. Among the loudest were Travis and Connor. She hugged Will fiercely, both exclaiming to each other about how amazing it was. Mercer then ran over and hugged a cheering Travis. She buried her face into his shoulder as he picked her up and spun her around. The crowd quieted down as the next act, a couple of grumpy looking Apollo boys, got ready to go on.

"That was incredible," he exclaimed. She laughed.

"Thanks! I couldn't have done it without you. You've been so amazing," she said. He took her hand again. Travis grinned lopsidedly at her.

"It was my pleasure," he responded, a little more subdued. He stared at his hand in hers thoughtfully and stroked her thumb. Mercer had a sudden overwhelming urge, looking at his dark hair and mischievous blue eyes.

"Let's get out of here," she said suddenly, wanting to be alone with him. He looked up at her, grinning even wider.

"Okay," he replied. She smiled impishly at him, dragging him behind her as she ran off of the beach.

Travis' Point of View

He didn't know where to go, so instinctively Travis lead her towards the Hermes cabin. As they stepped inside laughing, she closed the door behind them. They looked at each other, panting for a few seconds before sitting down on Travis' bed. They faced each other cross legged. Travis took both of her hands in his as Mercer leaned her forehead against his.

"You know, you make me wish I was a better person," she said, lowering her voice. She bit her lip and looked down before looking back up into his eyes again. She pulled away. He took her face in one of his hands, turning it back to face him.

"Better person? Merce, you're one of the best people I know."

And then they were kissing. Travis put his hands in her hair, stroking her face as she scooted closer and put her hands up against his chest. Travis' heart beat faster as her lips played with his, teasing him and drawing him closer. She smelled like vanilla and apples.

His hands moved down to her hips as his heart beat faster. They had both uncrossed their legs now, and Mercer sat in between his. His breath grew short as they went on kissing, smiling every time they broke away. They carried on like that for about half an hour.

Mercer now sat snuggled in his arms as they leaned back against his pillows. He played with her hair, saying nothing. He was content to just hold her like this, because he could.

"This is about the cheesiest thing I could say right now, but you know what song makes me think of you?" he said. Mercer snuggled her face closer into his chest, the moonlight playing off of her shiny blond hair.

"What?" He laughed to himself.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," he replied. She laughed.

"Why?"

"Because of the lyrics, of course! 'The girl with kaleidoscope eyes...'" he sang loudly and off-key. Mercer laughed even harder kicking his feet playfully.

"So, what does this make us?" she asked, clearly wondering about their relationship. Travis wasn't sure where this relationship was going. He had just met Mercer, and he wasn't quite over Katie yet. It had only been a week since they presumably broke up. Travis wasn't even sure of the status of their relationship, because they had never "officially" ended it.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "Maybe we can just see where it takes us? I'm not... ready for a serious relationship just yet," he said tentatively. Mercer sat up, disentangling herself from his arms. He moved with her.

"Is there a problem with that? I just don't want to take this whole thing public until I'm sure about how I feel" he said. He wanted to be with her, but he wasn't sure of it. Mercer turned to him, forcing a smile.

"It's fine. I get it. You're not over Katie yet," she said. Travis was relieved. He really liked her. But he couldn't be with her completely. Not yet.

And then he saw something above her head. He jumped out of the bed instantly. Above her head was a pink, glowing dove. Mercer's clothes had changed from shorts and a Camp t-shirt into a Greek style toga. Golden bands laced their way up her arms. Her thick blond hair fell in soft curls down her back, braided with silver and gold. Her makeup was natural, but accentuated her kaleidoscope eyes beautifully. Her full lips stood in stark contrast from her strong cheekbones. Mercer grinned.

"I guess we know who my mom is," she said excitedly. Travis went to hug her out of joy, but then the strangest thing happened. Her beautiful clothes disappeared, her makeup fading away. The pink dove turned gray, as if something was fighting it. Mercer's expression turned doubtful. The dove turned from pink, to gray, to pink again before the thing fighting it finally won. The pink glowing dove turned into a gray owl.

"I think we need to go see Chiron," Travis said.


	5. Things Get a Little More Complicated

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer was almost to the point of hyperventilating as Travis dragged her out the the Hermes and to the Big House . What had happened back there? One second she was a daughter of Aphrodite and knew who her mother was. Next, she was standing under the symbol of a gray owl. Clearly, she was a freak, even more so than most demigods. The confusion and everything that had happened in the past few days left her on the point of a nervous breakdown. She didn't even notice when Travis dragged her into the house to the protests of Mr. D.

"What do you two think you're..." the pot-bellied god yelled at them as Travis searched for Chiron. The found him on the back deck, relaxing in wheelchair form and watching the moon. Mercer was relieved. It still freaked her out to see her former principle as a centaur, and she didn't think she could handle it right now.

"Travis, Mercer, why aren't you two at the talent show?" he questioned them with concern.

"Chiron, we have to tell you something." Travis told the entire story of the weird symbols, leaving out the part about them kissing. As he talked, Chiron's expression grew increasingly worried.

"So the prophecy is true..." Chiron muttered to himself. Mercer snapped out of her daze.

"What prophecy?" She asked. Chiron frowned.

"I shouldn't have said anything. You are not ready to hear it yet, dear," he said somberly.

"Sir, if this 'prophecy' has something to do with Mercer, you need to tell her. Something weird happened back there, something bad," Travis said desperately. Chiron sighed.

"I cannot share it with you yet. But you deserve to know something. Mercer, Travis please come inside," he said, leading them to a large ping pong table. He directed them to sit opposite him.

"Mercer, when demigods are claimed, their parent's symbol is what marks them, correct?" Chiron said, leading her thoughts like a teacher.

"Right," she said softly. But I saw two symbols, she thought.  
"But you saw two symbols," Chiron said, reading her mind. She nodded her head.

"There is an ancient prophecy, foretelling of a demigod split between two godly ancestors. This demigod has both a parent, and a grandparent of godly origin. Mercer, I believe that this demigod... is you," he said tentatively. Mercer took in a sharp breath. Travis grabbed her hand for support.

"Travis, I must discuss this with Mercer further. Please go gather the other cabin leaders for an emergency meeting in ten minutes," Chiron ordered. Mercer felt like she was going to throw up. Even at Camp Halfblood, she was different. Travis squeezed her hand one last time before leaving.

"Mercer, I think what happened was that both goddesses tried to claim you as their own kin. If I recall, your father was abandoned by his mother?" Mercer nodded.

"I believe your father might have been an unclaimed child of Athena. I had a feeling when I met him, but this information you have shared confirms it. You're father was a demigod, and might have never even realized it," he theorized. Mercer couldn't respond. Her grandmother was a goddess too? What, was everyone in her family an all-powerful immortal?

"Now we come to the issue of Aphrodite. Aphrodite must be your mother. Now, you can see the tension this would create between the two goddesses. Aphrodite believes that you rightfully belong to her, but Athena must believe that Aphrodite had no right to your father and that you are rightfully her claim," Chiron continued to himself.

"Chiron, what does this mean for me?" she interrupted.

"Ah, yes. Mercer, your very existence defies the rules set in place by the gods. The gods are very territorial and competitive creatures, especially Aphrodite and Athena. Everyone on Olympus remembers the golden apple debacle with Paris of Troy. If I understand the two goddesses correctly, then as we speak they could very well be creating dividing lines in Olympus. The fragile peace among the Olympians is about to be tested, and you my dear are about the be in the center of this conflict," he said. Mercer opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted.

"Mercer, I know this is a lot, but you mustn't fear. The trouble has not escalated yet. I can assure you, we will do everything possible to keep you safe." At that moment all the cabin leaders filed in. Including Clarisse. Even Mr. D was there. Connor and Travis sat next to her. Travis held her hand again under the table.

"I have called you all here to discuss an incident that occurred in the Hermes Cabin tonight," Chiron began.

"Let me guess, the love birds here were caught making out?" Clarisse said sarcastically. Mercer's cheeks turned red and she let go of Travis' hand.

"No Clarisse, but thank you for your input," Chiron responded calmly. He then went on to tell them everything that happened and his theories about Mercer's family. Everyone sat in stunned silence when he was finished.

"So why did you call us here?" Will Solace asked, finally.

"He called us here because we're all in danger now because of her," Clarisse said, glaring at Mercer.

"I mean, I'm totally thrilled to have a new sister," said the pretty Asian girl who headed the Aphrodite cabin, "but is she like, even my sister? I mean, where will she sleep? We can't let just anyone into the Aphrodite cabin. We have standards." Who did this girl think she was?

"I think the important point here, Drew, is that both of our cabins have a new member of the family. This is a weird situation, but I think Chiron just told us so that we could be as supportive as possible for Mercer," said Annabeth, smiling over at Mercer. Mercer smiled weakly back, grateful that someone was sticking up for her.

"Fine by me. Welcome to the Camp-Halfblood family, Mercer," said the Hephaestus leader. Clarisse stood up.

"Don't you all see? She's a danger to all of us! How can you sit here and act like this is all completely normal? She's a freak! We should be throwing her to the monsters by now!" Clarisse yelled. Did Clarisse really hate her that much? Tears formed in Mercer's eyes, but she hid them quickly. She wasn't going to let Clarisse get to her.

"Clarisse, that was... really uncalled for," Percy said slowly. Everyone stared at her. Clarisse looked around and then stomped out in a huff. There was more awkward silence. Mr. D, who she thought was paying more attention to his Diet Coke than the conversation, looked up.

"You know, Claire has a point," he said lazily. Chiron acknowledged his superior with a nod.

"Clarisse, Mr. D, Clarisse," he corrected him. Mr. D waved a hand at him and went back to his drink.

"Mercer, Clarisse doesn't really mean it. She's just too proud to admit when she's wrong," Percy said from across the table. Mercer nodded, putting on a brave face.

"I think we can all agree that Clarisse's little outburst was extremely inappropriate. Now, would anyone else like to add something?" Chiron challenged. The Asian girl looked like she was about to say something, but Chiron gave her a stern look. She slouched back down into her seat.

"Good. Let's move on to the issue of where Mercer will be staying. I think it would be an unwise choice to assign her to a cabin at the moment. The goddesses might view it as her taking sides between the two of him. For now, she shall continue to stay in the Hermes cabin. It goes against camp guidelines, but I think I can make an exception in this case. Does the Hermes cabin comply?" Chiron asked, turning to the Stoll brothers. Travis nodded.

"Of course," Connor answered.

"Then that matter is settled. Mercer, I think it would be best for you to split your meal times between the Aphrodite and Athena tables. We must show the goddesses some respect. Do the cabins comply?" Chiron asked Annabeth and the Aphrodite girl.

"Athena cabin agrees," Annabeth responded. The other girl began to speak.

"I don't think we should have to-"

"Drew..." Chiron warned. Drew pouted, crossing her arms.

"Fine, Aphrodite agrees," she said grumpily.

"Then I believe we can call this meeting to a close. Please, nobody worry about the situation on Olympus until I can gather further information. Alert your cabins to be on the lookout for anything strange, but there is no need to worry until I can fully assess the threat. You may all leave now," Chiron finished.

As they walked back to the cabins, Travis told Connor to go ahead of them, and he did so reluctantly. Now Mercer and Travis were alone again.  
Mercer was disappointed in herself. She felt like she was repeating the same patterns she always had. Travis said he didn't want a relationship yet. She had heard that speech countless times from guys. It was always the same: they weren't over their ex-girlfriend, they thought she was amazing, and they didn't want to make their relationship public until they were sure how they felt about Mercer. But she could never help herself. She hoped to the gods that this time with Travis would be different, and that it wasn't just the Aphrodite side of her driving her attraction to him.  
Travis put his arm around her hip.

"Mercer, I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" she asked bitterly.

"For everything in the world being screwed up," he responded.

"Thanks, but I don't think you have the authority to apologize for the whole world," she said sadly.

"But I wish I could. I wish I could just make it all go away," he said seriously, staring into the night. She smiled. Travis really cared about her. Maybe it would be different this time.

She kissed him again, sweetly this time. He pushed for more, but she pulled away and ran. He laughed, chasing after her. They had almost gotten to the cabin, when he caught her up in his arms. She kicked as he lifted her up in the air. He kissed her again, and she kissed him back more deeply this time. She pulled away again.

"Tease," he whispered in her ear. Travis had a way of cheering Mercer up.

"Clingy," she whispered back as they walked into the sleeping cabin.

**Connor's Point of View**

For the next two weeks, things were very strange around camp. He saw less and less of Mercer as she spent more time with her new siblings. Trying to balance both cabins equally was very difficult, and she had less time to see Connor. She seemed to have plenty of time to hang out with Travis, though.

Every time Connor was hanging out with his brother, planning pranks or just talking, Travis would always find some excuse to leave. He saw them together a lot, talking and laughing. Connor couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. Whenever he was talking to Mercer, she always acted really guilty. Eyes darting, hands trembling, and so on.

They weren't the only ones who were acting weird. After hearing about Mercer's mother and grandmother, everyone at camp seemed wary around her. It was as if she might spontaneously combust of they stood too close to her.

The situation on Olympus was worsening as well. Tensions were high as Athena and Aphrodite couldn't stop bickering over who Mercer belonged to. Sibling rivalry ran deep as Aphrodite sabotaged the Athena's annual Nobel Prize Conference, setting as least a thousand doves loose in the auditorium as the smartest people on Earth received their Prizes. Athena couldn't let that one go.

It wasn't just petty pranks like that, either. The Olympians were starting to choose sides between the two goddesses. So far, Juno had joined Athena's side, believing that Aphrodite's meddling in family affairs had gone too far now. Hephaestus joined Athena's side as well, hating the fact that his wife had cheated on him again. Only Cupid and Ares had joined Aphrodite. These splits were influencing the campers. Things seemed a little more hostile between the once friendly Hephaestus and Ares campers.

Connor was just finished with cleaning the pegasus stables as punishment for one of his earlier pranks when he saw Mercer and Travis walking together. He ran to catch up.

"Hey guys," Connor greeted them. They looked like he had interrupted something. Mercer smiled as brightly as ever.  
"Hey," she replied. Travis just nodded at his brother.

"So Mercer, are you ready for your first game of capture the flag?" Connor asked. Mercer sighed.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said sarcastically.

"Oh come on, you'll do great! You're already one of the best fighters in camp, according to what I hear from Percy," Connor said, elbowing her. Mercer looked at him hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe it won't be so bad," she said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry to hear that will be playing on opposite teams," Travis said. Mercer frowned.

"Why? You don't like a little competition?" she asked teasingly.

"I think what my brother is saying it that it's a shame we're on opposite teams, because it'll be so easy to beat you. Your Athena-Hephaestus-Apollo-Demeter alliance? It's nothing compared to the Hermes-Ares-Poseidon-Aphrodite alliance of the red team," Connor interjected.

"Stolls for the win," the brothers said simultaneously and seriously, with a high five at the end. Mercer burst out laughing.

"We'll see about that," she said, running off to join her teammates in the Athena cabin. Mercer would play with the Aphrodite cabin during the next game.

The Ares cabin had come up with the battle plan. The Stolls and the Aphrodite girls were assigned to defense. Most of the Ares cabin, the rest of the Hermes cabin, and Percy Jackson were assigned to offense. Percy was going to lead the opposing blue team on a wild goose chase by flooding the rivers in the forest. Percy had made a pact with the naiads to ask his dad to help clean up their rivers a bit if they helped him during the game. While the blue team followed his trail, Clarisse was going to lead a team to their base.

Connor waited at the hill where they had made their base. The Aphrodite girls sat in a small circle, braiding each other's hair. It was clearly up to Connor and Travis to defend the flag. It had been too quiet. The only sign of movement was a gray owl perched in a high tree. It looked into Connor's eyes, staring. Connor shivered under it's gaze. It was really creeping him out. It took off disappearing behind the trees. Connor clutched his sword tighter. Something weird was up. Thirty seconds later, he looked over to the post where Travis had been standing and discovered it empty. _What the..._

"Pssss..." he heard, coming from behind him the trees. Connor unsheathed his sword.

"Who's there?" he asked nervously. Suddenly a pair of hands took him by surprise and pulled him into the thick trees.

Connor swung his sword and yelped before his attacker had cleverly disarmed him and put their hands over his mouth in two seconds flat. Connor struggled against the hands.

"Calm down it's just me," whispered Mercer. Conor relaxed.

"What are you doing? Where's Travis?" Connor asked in a whisper. Mercer rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about him. Just stay here with me," she said with a small smile. Connor knew he had to get back to guarding the flag, but something about her voice compelled him to stay.

"But the flag..." he started.

"Stay here with me," she said again, more forcefully this time. What was going on? He wanted to leave but he couldn't.

"Mercer, what are you doing?"

"I've missed you Connor. I just want you to stay with me," she said again. And Connor stayed. He tried to leave, but whenever he did she told him to stay again. Her words alone made him unable to move.

Connor finally snapped out of his trance when he heard the Aphrodite girls yelling. He burst out of the trees before Mercer could say anything else. Annabeth Chase was running away with their flag. He couldn't believe it. Mercer had tricked him. Connor had just caught up with Annabeth and was about the snatch the flag back when Mercer shifted from a girl into the gray owl he had seen earlier. He was so dumbfounded that Annabeth knocked him off of his feet and the owl took the flag from Annabeth, carrying it far out of Connor's reach. Connor had heard rumors that some children of Athena were able to shape-shift into their mother's token animal, but he had never seen it in real life before.

Annabeth cheered as owl-Mercer flew all the way back to their base. The blue team had won.

The blue team carried Mercer on their shoulders all the way back to camp, cheering and celebrating. Once she was set down, Connor went up to her.

"Mercer Flynn, in the few weeks I've known you, you have never ceased to amaze me. I can't believe it," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. She smiled coyly.

"What? Can't believe that I discovered I have charmspeak? Can't believe that Annabeth helped me discover my shape-shifting powers? Can't believe that I knocked your brother out in thirty seconds without you even noticing?"Just the travis walked out of the forest, rubbing his head.

"Mercer, remind me to never again forget that you took karate for ten years," he said mournfully. Mercer threw his arm around him.

"Sorry about that. It was a necessary part to the grand scheme," she said smugly. Connor couldn't believe it. How had they come up with that plan? It was a genius trickery worthy of Hermes himself. Connor almost wished he had thought of it. Mercer first infiltrated the base in owl form, then knocked Travis out and charmspoke Connor. While she distracted him, Annabeth had sneaked in to retrieve the flag. But Connor hadn't counted on Annabeth being a distraction as well. Annabeth had distracted the Connor from Mercer's transformation. He had never seen it coming.

The boys were walking back to the cabins with Mercer and the rest on the campers when they were stopped dead in their tracks.

Mercer's mother had finally decided to introduce herself to her daughter. Aphrodite stood in front of the mass of campers, as beautiful as ever. And standing next to her, arms crossed, was Athena.


	6. Prophecies and Boys are Really Stupid

**Mercer's Point of View**

_You have got to be kidding me_, Mercer thought as she stared in awe at the two goddesses standing before her. After all these years, they thought that now would be the best time to finally show up? Aphrodite was beautiful. One second she looked like Scarlett Johansson, the next some other movie star whose name Mercer couldn't quite place. She wore a long, streamlined black dress with pearls and diamond earrings. In contrast, Athena wore a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She looked tough. Aphrodite smiled at her.

"Mercer, darling it's been forever. Aren't you going to say hi to your mother?" Aphrodite said in an overly sweet tone.

"Oh please, you don't even have the right to call yourself her mother. You think that just because you're the goddess of love you can have any man you want, even my son-" Athena interjected. They wasted to time in discarding niceties.

"Oh dear sister, you never even claimed him. It's not my fault her father was hopelessly attracted to me," Aphrodite responded, holding up her hands in mock innocence.

"Mercer, please pay no attention to my arrogant sister. I just stopped by to receive your gratitude for my gift to you," Athena said dryly. Mercer could barely respond.

"Wh-what gift?" she asked nervously. Most of the campers looked like they had just seen a car accident. They wanted to look away, but at the same time they found what was going on utterly fascinating. Travis looked like he was debating whether or not to walk up and punch one of the goddesses in the face. Mercer saw Chiron running up in the background.

"Do you think you just learned to shape shift own your own? I, of course, helped you with that," Athena said, crossing her arms and looking at Mercer expectantly.

"And I, dear, granted you the power of charmspeak. Who would want to be a stupid little bird when you can talk anyone into anything," Aphrodite said callously, turning to her sister. Athena gave her a cold, calculating gaze. They both looked like they were about to blast the other. Why were they here?

"Both of you should not be here right now. The prophecy has not come to fruition, yet," Chiron said, walking over to Mercer protectively.

"Oh shut up, horse-man," Aphrodite said rudely, rolling her eyes.

"Chiron, we cannot wait any longer. I have tried to reason this out, and there is no logical way for us to carry on like this without Olympus collapsing. Mercer must decide sooner or later," Athena said calmly. Mercer's heart dropped. She knew what they were here for. They expected her to pick between them. Right there.

"You must give the prophecy time. If this is rushed, then everything will go to ruin. You know how he is," Chiron begged. He? Mercer could feel her ears growing warm. They got red whenever she felt angry. They talked about Mercer as if she wasn't there.

"If you do not know Mercer, then maybe you do belong to Aphrodite. No child of mine would be unsure of my claim to her," Athena said regally, turning her nose up at Aphrodite.

"Stop it, both of you! You all act like I'm some puppy dog that can't handle itself! I'm not a piece of furniture, I can't be owned," Mercer spat, losing herself. She knew that defying the goddesses was risky, but she couldn't control her temper at that point. The women had been facing each other the whole time, but now turned to face Mercer.

"Excuse me?" Aphrodite said, hands on her hips.

"Umm, you heard me," Mercer said, less sure of herself. Athena looked almost respectful.

"I admire your bravery Mercer. Normally I would say that now is not the time for petty arguments, but I believe it has escalated to that. I will be taking my leave now, as I can see no further point in discussing this. It seems you do not even know of the prophecy yet. Goodbye, Mercer," Athena said gravely. Everyone shielded their eyes as she turned into her true goddess form and disappeared. While she was talking, Aphrodite had taken out a golden pocket watch and started adjusting the time on it.

"Mercer, dear don't take too long. After all, the days always seem to be about four hours shorter than you think they are," Aphrodite said with a smile, tossing the watch to Mercer. Mercer stared at it's golden face. There was a small design on it. An archway leading to a door stood inside a brick building. Mercer had no idea what it meant, and she slipped it into her pocket. Then Aphrodite disappeared in another flash of bright light. Chiron, who was still beside her as they stood near the cabins, spoke.

"Everyone go back to their cabins. This does not concern you," he said in a strong voice. Travis was just about to drag a shocked Mercer along by her elbow when Chiron held up his hand.

"Travis, Mercer will be coming with me," he said quietly, almost whispering. Travis nodded and left to go join his siblings. Mercer looked up at Chiron. He looked back with a sadness in his eyes.

"I'm afraid we have to have another discussion," he sighed. Chiron led her back to the Big House. Mercer was still reeling from the events of that night. There never seemed to be a dull moment at Camp Half-Blood. She had experienced her first family fight. How cute.

Mercer had pictured the goddesses as more regal, more nobel. They just seemed like a couple of bickering teenagers. Mercer had imagined what it would be like when she met her mother ever since she was little. They would both be a little bit shocked at first, but soon they would run up and hug each other fiercely. The reality was far from Mercer's expectations.

Mercer missed her family. Her real family. She wished the way her stepmother was overprotective, she missed going out with her father every Saturday, and she even missed all the stuck up prep school kids. It just wasn't easy waking up every morning knowing she wouldn't see her father that day.

She looked out at the Camp wistfully one last time when they arrived before stepping inside, wishing she could go back to the way things were when she was living with her family. Everything seemed so much simpler back then.

**Travis' Point of View**

That was the most uncomfortable family reunion Travis had ever witnessed. Yelling at each other in front of you daughter's/granddaughter's friends? That had to be really awkward.

Travis was worried. All the adults spoke of some prophecy. And from what the goddesses had said, it sounded like it was coming closer and closer. But what did it have to do with Mercer? Could she be... dangerous?

Travis already knew that she was powerful from the night's capture the flag game. That was clear from the way she roundhouse kicked him the the head, he thought, rubbing his temples in sore remembrance as he lay in bed. He had been trying to fall asleep for thirty minutes now, to no avail. But just how powerful was she?

Mercer was certainly an anomaly. Travis had never heard any myths of a demigod having two godly ancestors without the result being an actual immortal. Travis wondered exactly what was it that kept Mercer mortal. With her bloodline, she had to be at least 75% Olympian and 25% mortal. More specifically, half Aphrodite, a quarter Athena, and another quarter human.

Travis wasn't sure what he was getting into when he had started a relationship with her. At first he had found her mysteriousness cute and intriguing, but now it was getting on his nerves. Her frequent vague comments about her past made Travis wonder if he really was in over his head with her. He liked her when she was flirty and fun, but when she got all sad and worried, she just wasn't the same person anymore. He was getting a little tired of having to comfort her. Every day it seemed like her problems were just getting too big for him to solve.

While Travis was thinking, his brother snored overhead. Travis knew that Connor liked Mercer too. Maybe he would have been better for her. Travis' brother followed her around unconditionally, and Travis could see that never once did Connor doubt his affections for her. The way Connor looked at her, it was like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered. It made Travis feel guilty, because he knew he didn't like her in the same way that his brother did.

Travis felt even more guilty when Mercer finally came back into the cabin after her talk with Chiron. Normally he would have stayed up and talked with her in hushed tones about what had happened, but his guilt immobilized him. He feigned sleep as Mercer lay down in the bunk opposite him. They had given her a space of her own, seeing that she would be staying there for a little while.

So Travis lay there, paralyzed, thinking that he was as empty with cowardice as she was full of enigmas.

**Mercer's Point of View**  
Mercer lay trembling in her bed, wishing that Travis was awake so that she could talk to him. Chiron had finally told her about the prophecy that night.

He had taken her aside to the big house after her little "family feud" that night. Chiron hadn't wanted to share the prophecy with her until he had to, but he couldn't see the logic behind keeping it from her any longer.

Chiron was absolutely certain that the prophecy was about her. Their oracle, Rachel, had spouted it a few months earlier. Immediately after Chiron heard it, he left camp to scour schools across the country, looking for a demigod like her. Normally he wouldn't have left the camp, but this was an emergency situation. That was how Chiron had found her.

Chiron knew immediately that she was something different. He had looked through her school records, and all the signs were there. Dyslexia, ADHD, and something else he saw that was most peculiar. Mercer had been caught a few times skipping class with several boys in the school. And they hadn't been caught playing patty-cake. In her school records, it showed that immediately after she had been caught, Mercer had claimed to have no recollection of the events.

Chiron offered an explanation for that. Since Mercer's blood was mostly the blood of the Olympians, occasionally her immortal side had the power to overtake her mortal side. Those times she had been caught had been the Aphrodite side of her quite literally taking control of her body.  
That was the part that scared Mercer the most. She literally had no power over herself. At any second, Aphrodite or Athena could take over and she would be powerless the the side of her that was Olympian.

To make things worse, after he shared that lovely bit of information, Chiron had given her the prophecy:

Between two sides a child stands  
Balance of Olympus held in hand  
Decision marks the final days  
To bring down, to burn or raise  
Child shall be torn apart  
Or through the door be of wretched heart  
Demigods will leave in four  
To never return by that cursed door

That was just...great. Mercer knew that Chiron had said that things still weren't at a critical state right now, and that the goddesses might be able to still be reasoned with. Apparently, Zeus was keeping them at bay, but it wouldn't be long before the goddesses had to be stopped for good. He said that she didn't have to worry about it for another couple of weeks, but a few weeks wasn't that long. If she was the child of the prophecy, then things didn't look too bright for her future. Mercer was especially worried about the lines that talked about her being "torn apart" and the whole "never return" thing. Mercer didn't have a few weeks. The goddesses were starting a war if she didn't choose between them.

Mercer couldn't just choose. She felt a connection to bother Aphrodite and Athena. It was like asking a kid to choose between candy and ice cream. Maybe it was in her blood, but something about deciding which goddess she ultimately "belonged" to just seemed to go against her nature. If she couldn't be a part of both of them, then maybe she was not a part of either at all. But they wanted an answer now. As Aphrodite said, the days always seemed to be four hours shorter than you think they are.

Mercer gasped. Four? The prophecy had said something about four. Granted, Chiron had told her that that was the number of demigods they would most likely be sending on the quest when it was time, but Mercer didn't think it was a coincidence.

She moved quietly to the pile of clothes she kept under her bed, looking for the shorts she had worn tonight. SHe looked through about ten orange Camp Half-Blood t shirts before finally reaching them. She dug through the pockets and pulled out the pocket watch given to her by Aphrodite with the strange picture. She held her breath and opened it. She breathed out.

It was just as she had hoped. Aphrodite had set the clock to four hours behind the current time. The face read that it was eight o'clock. Mercer wound the hour hand to the current time, midnight, but nothing happened. Then she remembered that Aphrodite had said that the days were four hours shorter. So Mercer continued to wind the hand forward until it reached the four.

Mercer gasped, covering her mouth as a golden light glowed off of the clock face. When it faded away, the watch face had disappeared. In it's place was a little hollow. Inside the watch lay a small black stone. It's surface was shiny, almost opaque. Mercer gingerly lifted it out to examine it. It did her no harm. She held it up to the moonlight, looking at its opalescent quality when she noticed something else in the little hollow space she had retrieved it from.

There was a small inscription on the inside underneath where the stone had been. It read:

"Upon you, upon me."


	7. Astronaut Ninjas Make Everything Better

**Connor's Point of View**

Mercer seemed even weirder than normal at breakfast today. Connor had gotten used to her and Travis being all buddy-buddy and sitting next to each other, but today was different. Mercer had sat next to Connor today, and Travis hadn't even met her eyes once all morning.

But hey, Connor wasn't complaining. It was good to have Mercer back as his friend.

"I say, does the great Mercer Flynn decide to grace me with her presence this fine morning?" Connor asked, putting his hand over his chest in mock humbleness. Mercer rolled her eyes and bumped him with her hip.

"Yes, she does. It is a great honor, and you should not take it lightly," she teased back. She glanced over at Travis, but he just kept his attention on his food.

"I'm sorry mam, my humble apologies," he said, giving her a little bow and a fake tip of his hat. Mercer laughed, instantly lighting up his day. But then she stopped, drawing away from him. He assumed it was about what had happened last night.

"Mercer, do you want to talk about it?" he asked in a quiet tone so that no one else would hear. She just shook her head and gave him a sad little smile. She looked back over at Travis for a slight, almost imperceptible second.

"It's nothing. What's a family without a little drama, right?" Right there Connor made it his his mission to give her an awesome day. He didn't care what awful stuff was happening in her life, he wanted to be there to make everything better. He had an idea.

"Okay, sad time is over. I have something totally fun for us to talk about. It's Connor' Super Fun Survey time!" he exclaimed. Mercer laughed and stared at him questioningly.

"Okay, a little random, but I'm game. Ask away," she said, leaning back.

"What did you want to be when you grew up?" he began, holding an imaginary microphone up to her face.

"Astronaut/ninja," she said with a straight face. Connor burst out laughing.

"What? Don't make fun of me, I was a cute kid!" she said, playfully hitting his arm.

"Alright, fair enough. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" he continued.

"Hmm. That's tough. I guess I would say Paris? City of loooove and all for a daughter of Aphrodite," she said. At the mention of her mother, Mercer started to withdraw into herself again.

"Hey, there will be no sad faces on Christmas," Connor said, impersonating Jim Carrey from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Mercer smiled at him to show that she was fine.

She had one of those great smiles that you only encounter once in a lifetime. It was magnetic. When she smiled, she pulled you into her confusing little world only to spit you back out again when it left. It was the kind of smile that could cure cancer. It understood you, and let you know that the world was in your favor and that you were the most important thing in the universe. Connor could have kissed her right there.

"Connor," she said, waving his hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his reverie.

"Right, awesome survey time. What is your favorite movie?" he said in a fake announcer voice. Mercer thought for a moment.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Something about having your own awesome musical number for no apparent reason seems really cool," she replied. Conor had a lightbulb idea.

"Alright, that concludes the survey. We'll see you next time, bye," he said, gathering his things and leaving the table. If he was going to pull this off by tonight, he was going to need all the help he could get.

Connor had a free hour before he had any lessons, so he first ran over the the Hephaestus table. Mercer had a few friends there, so he was sure they would be happy to help out. Well, almost anyone in camp would be happy to help Mercer. People just loved her magnetic personality. He shared his big idea with Jake Mason, the head counselor. Jake smiled when he heard it and assured Connor they could pull something together by that night.

Next, Connor reluctantly sought help from some of the Aphrodite kids. If anyone knew how to recreate the city of love, it was them. Luckily, Ellie and a couple of her friends liked Mercer and said they could help as well. When Connor asked them, Drew just gave him a steady glare from down the table. Connor thought that maybe she was jealous of Mercer. He couldn't see how Drew couldn't be, what with Mercer being the most beautiful girl in camp, in his opinion. Being gossip extraordinaires, the girls agreed to spread news of his other plan to the rest of the camp. Connor needed everyone to be in on it if it was going to work.

Lastly, he talked to Percy Jackson. He needed Percy's help with some of the Pegasi.

He used the rest of the hour setting up clues for Mecer to follow. The first would come after her Ancient Greek tutoring with Annabeth. Mercer had been behind all the other campers, so Annabeth had agreed to tutor her privately. Now, Mercer was only studying with Annabeth because she had moved ahead of all the other campers. Annabeth was the only teacher who could challenge her now. She wasn't only beautiful, she was smart too.

The next clue would come after weapons training with Percy and before lunch. Connor remembered that he should probably ask Chiron's permission for this part, so he ran over to the Big House.

"Connor Stoll, please don't tell me the entire Apollo cabin is chasing you again. I let you hide here once, I urge you not to make this a regular occurrence," Chiron scolded.

"That's not what this is about. And for the record, it was the Hephaestus cabin. Much scarier," he defended. Connor asked Chiron permission to steal Mercer away from lunch for his plan. Chiron simply smiled at him.

"Of course, Mr. Stoll," he said. Connor beamed.

Connor just had one last part of the plan to set up. It would happen after the campfire. There would be no note, no clue, just complete and utter surprise. Connor was determined to make this the best day of Mercer's life.

She made him want to be... more.

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer had had a completely normal tutoring session with Annabeth. Mercer had about a half an hour before she had to go train with Percy. Annabeth smiled at her.

"You know, someday I might not be able to teach you anymore. You're getting too good at this for me," Annabeth said, elbowing Mercer. Mercer blushed.

"It helps that you're such a great teacher. Thank you so much Annabeth, I know it takes a lot of time out of your work schedule to help me," Mercer said. Annabeth was still working on repairs at Mt. Olympus after it had been destroyed last summer almost a year ago now. It was getting to be late June.

"No problem," Annabeth replied. Then, outside on the ground lay a package with Mercer's name written in large print. Mercer looked at Annabeth, puzzled as she ripped open the brown paper packaging. Inside was a replica astronaut's helmet and a black ninja mask. Mercer instantly thought back to her conversation with Connor earlier this morning. A note fell out on the ground Mercer picked it up and read.

"Horses fly in the sky, and astronaut dreams wait nearby. Signed, your Ninja Master." Mercer smirked. It looked like Connor was up to some Stoll mischief again. Mercer handed the paper over to Annabeth and she read it.

"It sounds like he wants you to come to the pegasus stables," Annabeth remarked, raising her eyebrows at Mercer.

"What?" Mercer asked innocently. Annabeth sighed at her.

"What?!" Mercer demanded.

"From the way I see you two lately, it sounds like horses aren't the only thing he wants to ride," Annabeth teased. Mercer's cheeks grew red.

"You're the worst," she said, deeply embarrassed. Connor was just Mercer's friend, Mercer and Travis. At least, she thinks she had Travis. Travis had been avoiding her lately. Annabeth laughed.

"Sure, whatever. Go meet your lover," Annabeth said over her shoulder as she sauntered away. Mercer was so embarrassed she considered not going. But, curiosity got the best of her and she found herself at the stables in less than a minute.

There was Connor, waiting for her next to a black pegasus.

"Welcome to the best day of your life," he said jovially. Mercer laughed.

"What's with the cryptic note? I feel like I'm Nancy Drew," she asked.

"Ah, yes the note. The best day of your life has to be a surprise. Knowing about it would just ruin the whole experience. Now, I'm about to make your childhood dream come true. Mercer, meet Blackjack. He will be your ninja rocket for today," he said.  
"Ninja rocket?"

"Well, you said you wanted to be an astronaut/ninja. So, Blackjack will have to serve as your rocket for today. Have you brought your uniform?" Mercer nodded, beaming widely. She couldn't believe Connor had done all this for her.

"Then prepare for liftoff!" he shouted. Connor helped Mercer tie in the thin black mask before they got on the pegasus. His hands brushing against her neck made her body tingle. Mercer thought about what Annabeth had said. Maybe Connor was the Stoll brother she should be dating. Everything with Travis just seemed so complicated. Mercer had heard rumors that Travis had only broken up with his girlfriend a week before they met, which Travis had confirmed to her. She didn't want to be the rebound girl.

But when she kissed Travis, all of that just melted away. It worried Mercer the effect Travis' marathon make-out sessions with her had on her. Whenever Travis touched her, Mercer just melted into a puddle. Her father had once told her, "Don't ever let a kiss fool you, and don't ever let a fool kiss you." Mercer's dad had been joking at the time, but Mercer wondered if his words had some truth. Was Mercer fooling herself with Travis?

She shook these thoughts out of her head as she climbed onto Blackjack with Connor. He took the reigns, and Mercer wrapped her arms around him. He inclined his head back towards her.  
"Ready to make dreams come true?" he whispered. Mercer smiled. Even if he wasn't a romantic prospect, Connor was one of the best friends she ever had. She chuckled, remembering a line from one of her favorite Walt Whitman poems.

"I unleash my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world," she said aloud. Connor gave her a strange look.

"What's a yawp? And why are you unleashing it?" he questioned. Mercer giggled.

"It's Walt Whitman. A yawp is a yell. You know, like YAAWWWWP" she yelled, throwing her head back at the sky. Connor laughed. Mercer gave him a little salute, knocking her astronaut helmet by accident. Connor he pulled the reins and took off.

Before she knew it, they were soaring fifty feet over the camp. Mercer let out another yawp as they flew over the campers and satyrs. Connor mimicked her yell, causing Mercer to hold onto him tighter as she shook with laughter.

It was amazing being up there. With the helmet on, she did feel a little like an astronaut. She felt invincible. The wind blew through her loose hair, tangling it, but it didn't even matter. She was absolutely free. All of her problems seemed a little less... problematic now.

They landed softly near the training arena. Connor hopped off and gave her a hand getting down. Mercer patted Blackjack, and he whinnied as if to say "You're welcome". She took off the helmet and handed it to Connor, then started to do the same with the mask when he stopped her.

"You have to keep it. I want you to remember today forever," he told her sincerely, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I don't think I could ever forget this. Thank you so much, Connor" she said, smiling genuinely for what felt like the first time in days.

"It might not be over yet," he said mysteriously, that Stoll glint in his eyes. Him and Travis were so similar it was scary.

"Please tell me it doesn't involve any pranks that will get your ass kicked," she shouted at him as he walked away.

"No promises," he yelled over his shoulder cheerily. Mercer rolled her eyes and giggled.

Mercer walked into the arena, stuffing the black mask into her pocket. Percy immediately spotted her and walked over.

"So did you enjoy your little adventure this morning. That's right, you have me to thank for that," he said jokingly. Mercer laughed.

"That was your pegasus? Well thank you, it made a very good ninja rocket," she joked back. The training seemed to go by slowly. She couldn't wait to see what else Connor had planned. Mercer was disarmed easily in every fight that she was in. She didn't even care. The past few weeks, Mercer had been channeling all her anger and confusion into her training. It made her focus, but it didn't help get rid of it. It only made the anger worse.

Mercer forced herself to concentrate during archery. Annabeth had been right; the bow was meant for Mercer. Mercer had become one of the best archers in camp within her first few weeks of being there. She was even better than some of the Apollo kids. As soon as class ended and it was time for lunch, Mercer ran to look for some sign of Connor. She found another brown paper package outside on the ground addressed to her. She tore it open immediately, finding a little black beret inside along with another note.

"Behind the god of thieves I hide, waiting for you in the city of lights." City of lights? That was Paris! The god of thieves was Hermes, so maybe the note meant she should look behind the Hermes cabin. Mercer ran over to the cabins and sprinted to the back of the Hermes cabin, but she found nothing.

Mercer frowned. Where else was the god of thieves in camp? Mercer had an idea. She walked back to the front of the cabin as campers rushed around her, going to the dining pavilion. Mercer was worried that she would get in trouble for missing lunch, but she was too curious to leave now. Mercer stared at the caduceus sitting on top of the doorway. She reached up onto her tiptoes, her fingers just barely touching the bottom of it.

Mercer strained to lift the symbol of Hermes. She was able to lift the bottom edge just the slightest bit, and out feel a piece of paper. It was another clue!

"The place of meeting for many nights, come find where Clarisse left you out hanging dry, when evening comes love is in the air, meet for dinner if you dare." There was a small note at the bottom that read as an afterthought.

"P.S. Wear something nice." Clarisse? What did she have to do with this? Hanging out to dry... did that mean abandoning Mercer? Place of meeting... Mercer racked her brain for meeting places in camp. The campers met at the dining pavilion and at bonfires, siblings met in their cabins, the cabin leaders met at the ping pong table in the Big House...

Wait! That was it! Connor was talking about the meeting Mercer had attended where Clarisse told everyone they should leave Mercer to the monsters. Having figured it out, Mercer immediately took off for the dining pavilion, late for lunch.

She arrived at the Aphrodite table, panting. Her meals were now divided between the Aphrodite, Athena, and Hermes tables. Mercer sometimes got whiplash from the confusing scheduling. She sat next to Ellie and another one of her sisters, Lena.

"You're not going to believe what Connor did," she began. Ellie gave her a knowing smile. Mercer loved Ellie and Lena. Most of the other Aphrodite girls still hadn't accepted her, but Ellie and Lena were the only ones who were friendly to her. They all thought she wasn't "Aphrodite material" because of her relation to Athena. Mercer's sisters were so shallow sometimes that it frustrated

"Oh, we know," she replied, exchanging a look with Lena. Mercer gave them a quizzical gaze.

"What do you mean? Do you guys know something about what Connor's doing tonight?" Mercer asked, hoping they could reveal something. Lena laughed.

"You'll see," she said, shaking her fork at Mercer. Mercer bugged them for the rest of lunch, but they wouldn't say a thing. She couldn't wait for her surprise tonight at dinner. What would she wear?

The rest of her daily classes seemed to tick by tediously as she waited for dinner to come. The only interesting point of her day was strawberry picking that afternoon. Travis was there, so Mercer decided to confront him about his weird behavior this morning. She missed him.

She caught up to him in a secluded corner of the fields with a smile on her face.

"Hey," she greeted him, brushing the hair out of her eyes. He smiled back.

"Hey. You seem a lot happier," he commented. He put his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him and playfully nibbling on her neck. Mercer laughed as he planted a firm kiss on her mouth. Mercer, however, quickly remembered what she had come there for and pulled away before they started making out.

"What was up with the silent treatment this morning?" she asked, smiling hopefully. Travis still had his hand around her waist.

"I don't know, I was in a weird mood. I've been thinking a lot lately," he said, shrugging, going back to her neck. Mercer pushed him away again.

"What have you been thinking about?" she asked, more serious this time.

"I don't know... I guess Katie," he said, exasperated. Her ran a hand through his thick black hair Mercer loved it when he did that, the normally crippling effect it had on her was negated by the mention of his ex-girlfriend.

"Look, I don't want to get into the subject of my ex-girlfriend, and neither do you. So can't we just enjoy spending time together? I was really glad to have the happy Mercer back, so let's just sit and talk like we used to" he said. Mercer buckled, smiling weakly at him. Something about Travis made her so weak. Maybe it was his incredible bone structure, or the light sprinkling of freckles under his eyes that you could only see up close, but Mercer was powerless around him. She gazed up into his deep blue eyes, hoping desperately that she could trust him. He shifted, giving off a slight scent of dirt and perspiration. Mercer could feel his hot breath on her neck.

"Sounds excellent," she said, grinning. Travis relaxed. They sat in the shade of the strawberry bushes, Travis' arm around her shoulder.

"So I heard my brother has been making your day exciting,' he said. Mercer chuckled.

"Does everyone in camp know about his little plan but me? I should've known that you would help him set this up. So what's his secret, Mr. Partner-in-Crime?" she asked eagerly leaning towards him. Travis frowned.

"I actually have no idea. Connor and I haven't seen a lot of each other lately," he said.

"What? The infamous Stoll brothers are flying solo? The separation anxiety must be terrible," she said in mock horror. They both laughed, and Mercer nuzzled her head into his neck.

"Yeah, I'm considering seeing a psychiatrist. Could you reccomend anyone?" he teased.

"Well, I happen to have a stepmother who is a psychiatrist, so I think I can help you," she teased back. He took her hand with the hand that wasn't around her shoulder. Mercer's heart beat a little faster.

"Alright, then, what would you suggest I do, miss expert?" Mercer bit her lip.

"You should stop spending so much time with me. I think he gets a little jealous," she said in a joking tone.

"I wouldn't be joking if I were you. The Stoll brothers might have more in common than you think when it comes to their taste in girls," he warned. Mercer looked at him questioningly.

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't see the way he looks at you. And the stuff he's doing for you today?" Mercer scoffed, laughing

"Travis Stoll, do I detect a hint of jealousy?" she asked. He threw his hands up in defense.  
"Maybe a little. It's just the way guys here look at you..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, but you're the one I like. My secret boyfriend is amazing," she stated. He chuckled.

"And my secret girlfriend is the best." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and leaned in to kiss her.

Mercer scooted closer so that her legs lay over his, practically in his lap as his hands wrapped around her neck. As their kiss deepened, Travis' hands moved down to her hips and she tangled her hands into his hair. She leaned her head back as he started to pepper kisses down her neck.  
Travis leaned forward so that he was on top of Mercer while she lay on her back. Mercer bit down on his lip. Travis' tongue pressed up against her lips, gently opening her mouth. It was only when Travis' hands started to move under her shirt when she stopped him.  
"What's wrong?" he asked, a tiny frown lining his face.

"Nothing, it's just... I've done this before with guys... I've done _it_ before with guys. But I didn't care about those guys. And I care about you. I want this time to be different," she explained. Travis gave her a small smile.

"I completely understand," he said. Mercer smiled back.

"Good."

"I repeat: tease."

"I repeat: clingy ass." Travis laughed.

"I wasn't an ass before.

"Well you are now," she said, giving him a sweet kiss.

It was almost time for dinner, so they left the secluded area they had been making out in and parted ways, dusting the dirt from the ground off of their clothes.

Mercer went back to the cabin to get dressed for dinner with Connor. She didn't wear much else around camp besides orange camp t-shirts and cut-off shorts, so she relished the opportunity to dress up.

Mercer finally settled on a form fitting plum dress with criss-crossing cut-outs in the back, showing off her toned back. She paired it with a pair of black ballet flats. With the beret Connor had given her, she did feel a little French.

Unable to contain her excitement, she ran all the way to the Big House and arrived in the rec room, panting. Inside, Connor stood in a trim black suit. He had transformed the room into Paris.

Twinkling lights were hung in a canopy over the table, which was covered with a black silk tablecloth. Purple gauze cloth the same color as Mercer's dress hung from the ceiling, creating drapes all around the room. A four foot tall model of the eiffel tower stood in the corner, light up with small lights. The table was lit by candles, and held an array of delicious foods. There was fresh baked bread, a turkey with delicious smelling herbs and spices, a sweet potato souffle, and even baked alaska. Connor grinned at her stunned expression.

"Connor, avez-vous tout cela? C'est incroyable!" Mercer slapped herself. Why was she speaking French?

"What?" Connor asked, laughing.

"It's an Aphrodite thing. I can speak fluent French. I was saying, Connor did you do all of this?" she asked again, in English this time.

"Well I had a little help from Ellie and Lena. And of course, Chiron gave me permission, so I guess he helped too," he said, shrugging with a huge grin on his face. He took Mercer by the hand and led her to a seat opposite him.

"Welcome to Paris," he said, pushing in her seat.

They talked and laughed for the whole dinner. It was one of the nicest nights she had had in a long time. Everything with connor came so easy. Usually Mercer felt some sort of pretense around other people, like she had to be the person they wanted her to be. But with Connor, she was able to let go of everything and just be.

They had finally finished dinner, stuffed to their maximum capacity, and were about to pull apart the wishbone.

"Make a wish," he said, grabbing one end while she grabbed the other. Mercer wished that every day could be as good as this one. She closed her eyes and pulled.

Connor got the longer piece, and Mercer got the shorter one. She pouted. Connor chuckled.

"Take it. I think I already got my wish," he said with a small smile on his face.

"But the wish is not transferrable!' Mercer protested, jokingly.

"Well too bad, because I'm transferring it. I want you to have it," he insisted. Mercer grinned triumphantly.]

"Such a gentleman," she remarked, still smiling. Connor smiled back.

"You know, you're one of the best friends I've ever had. I can't believe you did all of this just for me," she continued. Connor's smile faded just a little, almost imperceptibly, and then returned.

"Yeah. Best friend," he said quietly.

"Come on," he said, standing up, "the best day ever's not over yet."

**Author's Note: So this is the part where the story is coming to a crossroads. I don't know if I want Mercer to end up with Travis or Connor. At this point it could go either way! So, for any of you who are still reading this (and it doesn't look like too many from the stats) leave a review telling me what you think so far and if you think she should be with Travis or Connor. Your review WILL change the direction if the story. Thanks!**


	8. I Finally Get My Own Musical Number

**Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! It's really great to know that people are reading my stuff and appreciating it! I definitely know where Mercer's love life is going to go now. Side note: I made a Polyvore account for Mercer's outfits. The ones from Chapter 1 and 7 are up there, along with one depicting Mercer's past. Check it out! **

**Mercer's Point of View**

Connor and Mercer went back to the Hermes Cabin before the bonfire to change out of their fancy clothes. Just before entering, Connor swept her up in his strong arms and carried her over the threshold the newlyweds.

"Dun dun duh dun, dun dun duh dun," he sang out, sounding like a wedding march. Mercer threw her head back, laughing.

"What, are we married now?" she asked as he set her down in the darkened cabin. Connor smirked.

"Like you would ever marry me," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, you don't give yourself enough credit! I'm sure that some girl would love a guy who goes out of his way to make her day incredible," she remarked, elbowing him. Connor shrugged with a little smile on his face and was silent for a few seconds.

"Well, I'll meet you at the campfire," he said, grabbing his clothes and stepping into the bathroom. With Connor gone, Mercer just changed in the cabin quickly and ran to the campfire.

When she got there, the Apollo cabin had already started leading the camp in cheesy songs. Mercer gave Will a smile as he sang and he gave her a secretive smile back. She went to go sit by Travis and Julia.

"Hey guys," she said. Travis smiled as she sat down next to him. Julia leaned over Travis to talk to her.

"So, how was France?" she asked knowingly. Mercer blushed.

"Amazing. Connor's been such a sweetheart today," she gushed. Travis just looked down at his lap.

"Yeah, it's pretty great how he's been giving you a day off from worrying," Julia said, strangely emphasizing the "day off" part.

"Yeah, pretty great," she said, giving Julia a suspicious look. Travis smirked at his half-sister.

"Can people stop hinting at this huge surprise and just tell me what it is?" Mercer said indignantly.

"Sorry, no can do. I may not approve of his blatant attempts to impress you, but I abide by the Stoll code, which is: brother does not rat on brother. Whether it's pranks or otherwise," Travis explained.

"The Stoll Code? Please, you just don't want to tell me," she said sarcastically. Julia rejoined the singing as Travis leaned down to whisper in Mercer's ear.

"You look beautiful," he said, his warm breath tickling her ear.

"No I don't, I'm wearing a t-shirt and cutoffs," she replied humbly.

"A true testament to your beauty. You look amazing no matter what you're wearing," he said. Mercer shoved him playfully.

"Hey, I thought you wanted to keep this whole thing a secret. Flirting with me in front of the entire camp isn't going to help," she replied. Travis shrugged.

"Alright, I give up. It's too hard to compliment you," he said. Mercer chuckled.

"Good. Thank you, though," she said, giving an over enthusiastic smile like a little kid. Just then Connor sat down on Mercer's other side, making them jump apart.

"So little bro, Mercer here's been trying to get me to tell her about Operation Geronimo, but I've been keeping my mouth zipped. Please tell her that the honor code Stoll Code is a real thing," he said impatiently.

"Oh, the Stoll Code is very real. If either of us break it, we have to do each other's dirty laundry for a month. Trust me, you do not want to smell Travis' shorts after training with Percy," Connor said, shuddering.

"Fine then. Operation Geronimo? This must be pretty big if it has a codename," she said hopefully, leaning towards Connor smiling and batting her eyelashes.

"No way, Mercer, classified information," he said, wagging a finger at her. Mercer pouted.

"You suck," she said.

"I know," he replied, beaming. Mercer pushed him, laughing.

"You know, you're going to make me fat if you keep feeding me like this. Look, I think I have a food baby," she said, pointing to her stomach. The Stolls chuckled.

"Mercer, even if you were fat you'd still be gorgeous," Travis said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, I think it's physically impossible for you to look bad," Connor piped in. Mercer's cheeks grew red.

"Aww, shucks guys," she said, knocking them both on the arm.

"So Mercer, how would you describe your day so far? Amazing? Incredible? No, wait, so incredible, that you could kiss me right now?" Connor asked seriously. Travis bristled beside her. Mercer hit Connor again.

"Excuse you!" she shouted. Connor just laughed, rubbing his bicep.

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed," he said. Julia leaned over to them.

"Connor, are you hitting on Mercer again? I thought we talked about this, girls are sensitive," she warned. Connor gave her a little salute

"Yes, mam," he said tiredly. They laughed and joked for the rest of the campfire, just like they did when Mercer first came to camp and their wasn't all the tension between her and Travis.

Then, as the fire died down, everyone ran. Mercer started to get up to to see what all the commotion was about, but Connor held her arm.

"Not yet, Ferris," he said vaguely. Ferris? As in Ferris Bueller? What had he done?

Mercer heard a "caw-caw" sound come from the direction everyone had run in. Connor stood up.

"That's the signal. Come on, it's time for your big debut," he said, leading her by the arm.

As they arrived out of the clearing, Mercer was stunned. Before her eyes, was a gigantic, humongous parade float. Waiting for her on top of it stood Will Solace and some other Apollo guys, all holding instruments.

"You didn't," she said quietly, her smile growing wider. There was no way.

"I did. The Hephaestus guys really are amazing when it comes to pulling this stuff together. Come on, Bueller, it's time for you to get your very own awesome musical number," he said, leading her up onto the float and handing her a microphone.

"Wait, I have to sing?" she said, her fear growing.

"Yup," Connor said, chuckling.

"But I don't even know what song-"

"Oh, I think you'll know when Will starts playing," he said with a wink. Mercer stood, her heartbeat growing faster.

"Hey, Mercer, stop it. Listen closer, do you hear it?" he said, looking into her eyes deeply. Mercer listened like he said, and then she heard it.

It was cheering. Everyone at camp was waiting, and cheering for her.

"Mercer, you don't even realize it, but you just have this effect on people. People just _like_ you. You're, absolutely magnetic," he said with a small laugh, running a hand through his hair and looking down at his shoes.

"People want to be around you, they just need you around them. It's like, once they meet you, they fall absolutely madly in love and there's no going back. So don't be nervous, because there's no way you could possibly screw this up. You're you," he said quietly. Mercer was shocked. She knew Connor liked her, but she didn't know he liked her this much. Mercer had been trying to deny it for a long time, but now she knew. Connor Stoll was in love with her.

She couldn't control it. She jumped up and hugged him tightly, shocking him a little before he hugged her back. She buried her face into his neck before letting go.

"I'm sorry," she said. She wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for. For dating his brother, for liking him not being able to return his feelings just yet, for being unworthy of all his affection. Mercer stood looking around on the float, thinking that if he knew what she had done in her past, and what she and Travis were doing now, he wouldn't like her.

"For what?" he asked. She gave him a small, sad smile.

"For not deserving you," she replied. Connor frowned.

"That's it, all talk that is not happy is now banned. Now Mercer, take that microphone, and be Ferris Bueller for a little while. Like he said, 'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it,'" he quoted. Mercer smiled. The float started moving towards the sounds of the cheering.

Literally everyone in camp was there cheering for her. Even Clarisse stood there with her arms crossed. At least she wasn't throwing rocks at Mercer. Mercer covered her mouth on shock. She really couldn't believe that this many people were here to cheer her on.

Will and the guys started playing the opening notes to "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles. Connor was right. She knew the song by heart. It was the same song Ferris danced to in the movie. She looked at him smiling and began to sing.

"Well shake it up baby now, twist and shout..." she began, singing directly to Connor. They danced for the entire song while she sang. The crowd went wild. It was a dream come true for Mercer. For years she had watched that movie with her dad. Every time the parade scene came on, Mercer's dad would get up and dance with her. It was one of her favorite childhood memories. Connor had know idea how much this meant to her.

As the float slowly moved through the crowd of campers, Mercer let herself go more and more, moving her hips. Connor got closer to her, laughing the entire time. The campers danced along with her, joining in with her for the last note.

The cheering of the crowd got even louder. Connor winked at her.

"You did good Bueller," he yelled. Mercer hugged him again.

"Thank you. Seriously," she told him. Connor shrugged.

"How about that kiss now?" Mercer laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not quite what I meant, but I'll take it," he said over the crowd. He helped her off of the float, and she was immediately enveloped by the crowd of congratulators. Then Mercer turned around, and there was Clarisse.

"Hi," the Ares girl began.

"Hi," Mercer responded hesitantly.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot," Clarisse said, looking at the ground.

"Really?" Mercer said, surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, if this many people like you, you can't be that bad," Clarisse said with a wry smile. Mercer grinned back.

"Apology accepted," she replied, shaking hands with Clarisse. Then Connor came up from behind and scooped her up. Suddenly seeing was being carried back to the cabin over the hands of the crowd. She was crowd surfing.

Mercer laughed as they finally set her down back by the Hermes cabin. Chiron was waiting for her there. Her laughter turned to panic. Nowadays, it seemed like she only talked to Chiron when something was terribly wrong. What was it this time? The campers around her quickly dispersed.

"Mercer, could we please talk? I assure you it's nothing bad. In fact, it's quite good," he said with a smile. Mercer's shoulders relaxed. She hadn't realized how tense they were.

"Of course," she said politely. Chiron led her over to a the side of the cabin, where they could talk in peace.

"Mercer, it has come to my attention after today's events that you've been having a bit of a rough start at camp. With the goddesses, and all the trouble they've caused, you certainly haven't had it easy. I realize that you be feeling a bit desperate and confused," he started. Mercer nodded. Saying that she had a rough start was an understatement. Mercer knew that being a demigod was going to be complicated, but she didn't expect it to be this complicated.

"It hasn't been easy, yes, but I'm managing," she said with a weak smile.

"Mercer, I think it would be best for you to get away from all of this for a while. The goddesses aren't going anywhere, so I don't see how keeping you miserable here at camp would be best for you," he said. What did he mean? Was Mercer leaving camp for good? She felt a mixture of excitement and sadness. She missed her family desperately, but at the same time she would miss all her friends at Camp Halfblood.

"I think that a visit home this weekend to see your family would be worth the risk," he said. Mercer's heart leapt.

"Really?" she said excitedly. She missed the city so much. He nodded.

"Really. Of course, you will need at least two other senior campers to accompany you. You haven't been trained enough yet, so it would be too risky for you to go alone. Now, I was thinking Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase would be-"

"Connor and Travis Stoll. I want to go with the Stolls" she interrupted suddenly. She blushed at her disrespect. Chiron evaluated her.

"Mercer, I'm not sure that the Stolls have the maturity level for this trip. The last time they were in Manhattan they looted five candy stores," he warned.

"With all due respect, sir, there's no one else I would want to go with," she said politely. Chiron thought for a few moments.

"I suppose that would be fine. As long as you check in twice a day with me at camp, every day by Iris message. Go tell the Stolls to pack their bags. You're leaving at nine tomorrow," he said. Mercer beamed.

"Thank you, sir," she said gratefully. She did her best not to run as she walked into the cabin to share the good news. Connor and Travis were joking around as they sat on Travis' bed. Mercer plopped herself in between them, putting an arm around each boy.

"Good news, boys. We're going to the Big Apple," she said. They looked at her quizzically.

"What?" Travis asked her. Mercer grinned.

"Chiron gave me permission to go see my family in New York tomorrow, and he said I needed two senior campers to come with me. Sooo... picked you guys," she explained. The Stolls grinned.

"Were going to New York City? Awesome!" Connor exclaimed. The Stolls exchanged a mischievous look.

"Stop right there. No candy stores," she warned. They pouted.

"Awww, come on, Mercer! Just one?" Travis begged, a puppy dog look in his eyes. Mercer laughed.

"No! Chiron made me promise that you would be on your best behavior," she protested. The brothers smirked.

"From what he said, it sounds like we're the ones that have to look out for you," Connor said.

"Yeah, kind of like... chaperones," Travis added. Mercer rolled her eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me young lady," Travis ordered her.

"Go to bed, it's way past your bedtime," Connor added. Mercer laughed.

"Oh, shut up. Just pack your things for the weekend, we leave at nine tomorrow," she said defensively, getting up to pack her own bag. Mercer picked out an oversized messenger bag that read "Airmail" and had stamps all over it. She had gotten it on a family trip to Boston.

"Do I hear a tone, young lady?" Connor asked. Mercer laughed. She was so excited, She missed everything about home. She missed Carrie's hovering, she missed weekends with her father, she even missed the stuffy private school. But she was nervous. Mercer liked both of the boys. Being alone with them all weekend might bring up some interesting feelings. Plus, she was going to have to keep her relationship with Travis a secret from her father. She told her father everything, and it wouldn't feel right keeping this huge part of her life from him. Plus, going back home, she would have to face her past. She had tried so desperately to change here at camp, and she didn't want Connor and Travis to know what she had been like before.

Things were certainly about to get interesting.


	9. Alcohol and Lies Are a Bad Combination

**Hey! So this chapter's kind of long, but trust me, THE ENDING IS WORTH IT. Love! Lies! Alcohol! All will be revealed and nothing will be the same! Please send me some more reviews, it would really help me improve! The new outfits for this chapter are up on my Polyvore, so go to **

**Connor's Point of View**

That next morning, Connor got up at 6:00, too excited to sleep. The thoughts of Mercer showing them around the city had kept him up well into the night and had woken him early in the morning. He lay in bed for two more hours, just thinking.

Connor's mind kept coming back to when Mercer had kissed him yesterday. Granted, it had been on the cheek, but still, it was her lips against his skin. His cheek still burned where she had touched him. Connor wanted to be with her so badly. She was mysterious, funny, smart, and endlessly fascinating.

But it was obvious that she thought of him as nothing more than a friend. Conor was thinking of ways he could change that on the trip when he heard her stirring. It was 8:00, an hour before they had to leave. Mercer stumbled towards the girl's bathroom, grabbing a towel and some clothes. Connor got out of bed as he heard the water turn on. Campers usually didn't get up until at least 10:00 on Saturdays, so Connor did his best to be quiet as he threw some clothes into a duffel bag along with his sword, some emergency nectar and ambrosia, a spare dagger, and his lock picking set. Connor took it with him wherever he went. It had been a gift from his father, and Travis had the same one. It folded up to the size of a cell phone for convenience, but in reality it contained much more.

Mercer came out, throwing her hair into a messy ponytail. She was wearing brown boots and a floral shirt knotted at her waist with cutoff shorts so that Connor could see a section of her toned stomach. He couldn't stop staring at it. Travis had also rolled out of bed a few minutes ago, and was now slinging his own duffel bag over his shoulder. Mercer could barely contain her excitement.

"I have so much to show you. Like there's this awesome pizza place right near my apartment, and we have to go to Central Park..." she said excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Connor chuckled at the sight.

"Ready to go?" he said obviously. Mercer laughed and nodded.

"Let's go," she replied.

The car ride there was uneventful, thankfully. Connor and Travis sat in the back of the camp van with Mercer in the middle, peering out every so often nervously. They thought that there would have been a monster attack within the first hour. Connor was nervously jiggling his knee up and down when Mercer out her hand on it to stop him. Connor's face grew red at her touch.

"Relax, it's going to be fine," she said kindly. Connor smiled.

"You're right," he said with a sigh.

As they drove deeper into New York City, the landscape was starting to change. Not only had the trees and grass disappeared, but as they got closer to Mercer's apartment, the buildings got fancier and fancier. They had just driven into the Upper East Side when the van stopped. Mercer gave a deep, nervous sigh.

"Here we are. Just please, promise not to judge me," she said, pleading. Connor and Travis gave each other a strange look. Was she embarrassed because she didn't live in a nice apartment?

"Mercer, we would never judge you based on where you live," Travis said, taking her hand. Connor bristled at the sight. Mercer nodded, stepping out of the van and saying goodbye to Argus and thanking him for the ride.

A wrought iron gate blocked the way to the building. Mercer buzzed herself in. As they stepped inside the brick building, Mercer went over to a small elevator. The boys followed. She pressed the two buton and they ascended quickly. Mercer looked between them.

"Remember, no judging," she reminded. Connor held his hands up. The doors opened, and both of their jaws dropped.

Mercer didn't just live in an apartment. She lived in miniature mansion. A state-of-the-art kitchen opened up into a dining room that looked like it was out of Pottery Barn. A sitting area stood off to the side with luxurious high backed chairs and a brick fireplace. Floor to ceiling windows lined the apartment, giving an excellent view of the city. She had a breakfast case, an actual rotating breakfast case. A spiral staircase led to the floors above. Apparently, Mercer's family had the entire building to themselves. Mercer went to the kitchen counter, plopping herself down in one of the stools and reading a piece of paper left there. She frowned.

"I guess my dad got called out on some weekend work trip and won't be back until Sunday afternoon, and my step-mother's at some spa getaway with the governor's wife. So much for seeing my family this weekend," she said casually.

"Y-you.." Connor stammered.

"I said no judging!" Mercer begged.

"You're rich," he said, obviously.

"You're not just rich, you're loaded," Travis remarked. Mercer's cheeks grew red.

"I didn't ask for this! Stop looking at me like that," she said, crossing her arms. The boys just continued to stare at her.

"Come on, let me show you your rooms," she said, dragging them and rolling her eyes. They ascended the spiral staircase to come to a hallway with several different doors. She showed them two guest bedrooms. They were just as fancy as the rest of the house, and had their own bathrooms. She also showed them a study meant for Mercer to use, a mini movie theater, and a bathroom with a tub big enough to fit a centaur. As she was giving the the grand tour (and it really was grand) Connor tried to open one of the other doors, but Mercer stopped him.

"What?" he asked.

"That's my room," she said quickly. Connor gave her a curious look, but she ignored him and kept talking. On the fourth floor was her parent's room, her father's study, and another bathroom.

"You know, your place is kind of... freaking awesome. Why didn't you tell us?" Travis said. Mercer blushed.

"I don't like to show off. I'm spoiled enough as it is," she explained.

"But let's get out of here! You haven't even seen the city yet," Mercer exclaimed, grabbing their arms.

"Fine by me. Although we are going back to that movie room," Connor said. Mercer was jumping with excitement. She grabbed her bag and they were back outside quickly. Mercer told them that the pizza place wasn't too far, and that they could just walk , living in New York for years meant that "not far" to Mercer meant an hour away by foot in 90 degree summer heat. Connor and Travis were both exhausted by the time they got to the pizza place. Connor leaned on Mercer for support before they went in.

"Hold on... I just need a second..." he said exaggeratedly, panting in between his words. Mercer laughed.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad. and aren't you two supposed to be muscular demigods?" she asked.

"We are muscular!" Travis defended. Mercer laughed as the bell rang when they opened the door to the place. It was simply decorated, but by the twenty teenagers crowding the booths Connor could tell that it was a local favorite. Quickly Mercer's entire demeanor changed. She kept her head down, avoiding the looks of anyone who glanced at her as they got in line to order.

"What's wrong?" Connor said, frowning. Travis was busy ordering a large pepperoni pizza.

"Nothing, I just hate crowds," she said vaguely, not looking him in the eye. She was lying. Something about the teenagers in here was making her uncomfortable.

Mercer led them to a booth in a far corner, out of the way of the laughing and shouting group. She began to loosen up, talking and laughing as she attempted to eat the hot, gooey, delicious pizza. It really was incredible, and well worth the walk.

Connor was made uncomfortable by one of the guys in the group who kept staring at Mercer every so often with a look of recognition. Why was he looking at her? The black haired, green eyed boy whispered to his friend sitting next to him, pointing towards their table. Some of the girls were now taking notice. The girls first looked confused, then shocked, then disgusted. The boy and his friend were just smiling. Connor chose to ignore them, turning his attention back to Mercer. She was telling some story about the time she had let a raccoon loose in her private school as part of a prank.

"And to this day, nobody knows that it was the illustrious Mercer Flynn who caused the Great Raccoon Incident of 2011. Thank you, thank you," she said, taking a mini bow. Connor had been laughing with Travis until he saw the green eyed boy and a perky blonde approaching their table.

"Mercer, great to see you back in Manhattan. You remember, Jess, right?" the boy asked. Connor and his brother exchanged a look. How did he know Mercer? Was that why she had been acting so weird. Mercer turned to the boy with a panicked expression on her face, but she quickly plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Of course I remember Jess, Hunter. How could I forget when we spent all of sophomore year together?" Mercer responded. The blonde girl, apparently named Jess, looked like she would fit right in at the Aphrodite cabin. She was dressed perfectly, a white collared shirt outlining her perfect shape.

"Yeah, well, some people do change. You certainly would know a lot about that, wouldn't you Mercer?" Jess replied sarcastically. What was she talking about? Mercer's cheeks grew red. Hunter gave Mercer a flirtatious smile, making Connor's blood boil.

"And who are they?" Jess asked, shooting flirty smiles to both of the boys. Connor rolled his eyes. He hated bitchy girls like this.  
"Connor and Travis. My friends," she said defensively. Jess scoffed.

"Yeah, you have a lot of friends, don't you Mercer?" Jess said. Hunter interrupted.

"We've missed you here. Some people a little more than others," he said pointedly to Jess. She rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you come down to The Warehouse tonight? It's going to be huge, it can be just like old times. Remember?" he asked. Mercer blushed even more.

"No thanks," she said.

"Good. I don't want you there. But your friends... you two can come anytime you like," Jess said. Just then Travis got out of the booth and slid his arm around the girl's waist.

"Sounds like fun. Maybe we will be there," Travis said smiling at the girl. She giggled in return. Mercer gave him a look of doom, but Connor just smiled. It was one of their classic tricks. Right now Travis was probably stealing Jess' wallet from her back pocket without her even realizing it.

"Just think about it," Hunter said, walking away. Jess, Hunter, and the rest of the group quickly left.

"What was all that about?" Connor asked, as Travis sat back down next to Connor in the booth.

"They're just some people I used to be friends with. What was that Travis?" she said angrily. Travis tossed Jess' wallet onto the table.

"Just getting a little revenge. She was being a bitch. You actually used to be friends with them?" Travis asked incredulously. Mercer looked away from him.

"I was different back then, Travis. And you can't just go around taking people's wallets," she said, her voice rising. Connor sat speechless.

"Oh, do you mean you used to be an asshole too? Because that was really fun, getting stared down by your little boyfriend there. Tell the truth, Mercer," Travis said, his voice getting louder as well.

"He was never my boyfriend! Gods, Travis, why are you so angry?" she asked desperately, her eyes filling with panic. This was escalating quickly.

"Stop it, both of you! This is ridiculous, you two are best friends!" Connor shouted. The workers in the restaurant were now staring at them. Travis and Mercer just stared each other down for a minute.

"Yeah, best friends," Mercer said bitterly. Travis sighed.

"Look, Merce, I'm sorry I took the wallet. We'll go to that party tonight and return it. I swear, she won't even know it was gone," Travis said. Mercer's eyes filled with panic.

"No, we're not going to that party," Mercer stated.

"Mercer, I hate to admit it, but if we're going to fix this, we have to go. I don't want to get cozy with your old buds anymore than you do," Connor said reluctantly.

"They're not my friends. Not anymore," she muttered under her breath before reluctantly agreeing to go. Connor did have some ulterior motives for wanting to go to the party with Mercer. He was hoping he could finally make his move out on the dance floor.

They left the restaurant, and this time Mercer hailed a cab back to her apartment. Connor guessed it was because the long walk home would have been too awkward. They sat in the cab silently, staring out the windows as the city life passed by. So far this trip wasn't the romantic scene Connor had pictured in his head. Especially since his brother was there. It was hard to make a move with a third person always around.

They got back to the apartment, going up the elevator with the weight of today's strange events hanging in the air. Mercer was still being vague about what she had done that was so terrible in the past. If she was hanging around with people like that, he wondered if maybe her past was worse than he thought. As Connor dug deeper, her secrets got uglier and uglier. But Connor still had hope. Because he knew Mercer. And she was wonderful. And that was all that mattered.

Travis took off to his guest room, collapsing on the bed to take a nap before they went to the party later that night. Mercer sat on the floor of the sitting room, making a fire despite the July heat.

"Mercer, it's almost 90 degrees outside. Why the fire?" Connor asked, crossing over to sit beside her. Mercer looked into the fire, the now roaring flames illuminating her beautiful face. Her multicolored eyes glowed in their light. She smirked.

"It's something from when I was younger. I guess fires were just a thing that happened when my whole family was together. We would sit here for hours, talking and just being happy together. I guess fires are just a comforting thing for me. They remind me of feeling safe," she said.

"Mercer, you are safe. Travis and I won't let anything happen to-"

"Not physically safe. I guess... emotionally safe," she interrupted. She frowned, thinking for a moment. Connor tentatively put his arm around her. She leaned her head into his shoulder.

"Merc-"

"Don't ruin it. Just, please. I want this nice moment, no matter how small it is, before you know. I'm going to have to tell you eventually," she said. They sat like that for almost an hour, sweating in front of the fireplace, before Mercer began to speak. She took a deep breath.

"Connor I-"

"You don't have to tell me," he said.

"But you deserve to know," she said, tears gathering in her eyes. Connor's heart ached.

"But I don't want to know. I don't need to know," he said firmly. Mercer sighed.

"But you don't know me, if you don't know what I did. I'm just this idea to you, this idea of perfection. I don't deserve that, Connor," she replied. Connor brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Yes you do," he said quietly.

**Mercer's Point of View**

As Mercer got dressed to go to the party, she thought of all the stupid mistakes she had made sophomore year. Not only had she let guys use her, but she had gone out drinking with the "popular" crowd almost every weekend. She had freaked out seeing all her old "friends" because she hadn't wanted Connor or Travis to know about the awful person she had become when she drank. That's why Jess and the other girls hated her so much. She had single-handedly managed to alienate every one of them and now they all thought that she was a slut.

Mercer put on a black corset top that ended just above her bellybutton and white destroyed shorts. She wore her wavy down her back. It was her typical party uniform. Putting these clothes back on only reminded her of the person she used to be. She swore to herself that she had changed, that things would be different. She didn't want to push either of the Stolls away, but it looked like Travis was already doubting if he liked her.

Mercer looked at herself one more time before going downstairs to meet the boys. Travis and Connor were dressed similarly, of course, with white shirts and thin black ties. Their hair was perfectly messy and effortless. Both of their jaws dropped when she came downstairs, but Travis quickly turned his expression to boredom. Apparently he was still mad at her.

"What?" Mercer asked, her face growing red.

"You look... really hot," Connor stammered. Mercer laughed at both of them.

"Come on," she said, dragging them to the elevator by their arms, "let's go return that wallet before you guys start drooling. And don't check out my ass."

When they arrived by taxi at the club, Mercer's heart stopped. She already had a fake ID from back when she went out like this all the time, but she didn't think Connor and Travis did. Mercer turned to Connor, questioning. He smirked at her.

"Mercer, we're Stolls. We have ID's, don't worry." She sighed in relief. They got out of the taxi and Mercer confidently walked up to the bouncer Reggie.

"Hey Reggie, can you get me and my two friends in? I know you're packed on Saturday nights, but you owe me for getting you and your girlfriend back together," she told the large man. Mercer knew him well from the times she left the club, sick of Hunter and the others, and just sat on the curb talking to Reggie. He smiled at her, picking her up in a huge bear hug.

"No problem, Mercer. We've missed you around here. It's good to see you again," he said, putting her down unhooking the rope leading into the club.

"Exactly how well do they know you here, Mercer?" Travis asked. Mercer ignored him.

The Warehouse was a popular club in downtown Manhattan that had a reputation for failing to card kids who ordered drinks. That's why Jess and Hunter and the others like them went there all the time.

The inside was decked out with strobe lights, pumping music, and no shortage of underage teenagers.

Travis rolled his eyes when he saw all of Mercer's old friends out of the dance floor, drinks in hand.

"Some crowd you've got there, Mercer. Really nice people," he said in her ear sarcastically. Mercer felt her shame grow. She hated that Travis and her were fighting.

"Let's just find Jess and get out of here," she told him.

"What, and miss the party? No, let's relax and have something to drink while you're at it, seems like you're a regular here," Travis said bitterly. Connor grabbed his brother.

"Mercer I'm going to talk to my brother. We'll be right back, just try to find Jess," Connor said, dragging his brother away. Mercer wanted to cry. She had worked so hard to change, and now her past was ruining everything again. The way Travis looked at her, it was like he didn't even know her anymore. She walked over to the bar and collapsed in one of the stools, exhausted. No sooner had she sat down than Hunter had found her and was snaking his arm around her.

"Mercer, babe, so glad you made it," he slurred as Mercer pushed his arm away. Mercer looked into his glassy green eyes and could tell that the football player was already drunk.

"What do you want Hunter?" she snapped. She was in no mood to revisit that moment they had in the closet sophomore year.

"Whoa, relax, sweetheart. You're so uptight these days," he said in her ear, his hot breath tickling her ear. Mercer could feel the Aphrodite in her taking over. Maybe it was because she wanted to forget so badly about how her relationship with Travis was falling apart, but suddenly a drink or two sounded pretty good.

"Then order me a drink! You remember what I like, right?" Mercer shouted over the music, flashing Hunter a smile. What was she doing? She knew she was going to regret this, but she couldn't stop herself. She looked around for Connor and Travis, trying to find some way to anchor herself back to reality, but they were nowhere to be found.

Hunter ordered her a tequila. And then another. And then another. She kept downing drink after drink until she was wasted, but she didn't care. Travis hated her so much? Well then she'd give him a reason to hate her. Soon Mercer found herself out partying on the dancefloor, dancing and grinding with some guy whose name she couldn't quite remember. The music began to hurt her ears as she finally spotted Jess dancing with Hunter. Mercer gasped, finally remembering what she was supposed to be doing. She stumbled away, looking for Connor and Travis so that they could return the wallet. She found Connor near the bar, asking the bartender where Mercer had gone.

She came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey handsome, want to dance with me?" she asked as he turned around to face her. He gave her a curious look.

"Mercer, what are you doing?" he asked frowning. She giggled.

"Does it matter? You look so hot and I just really want you to dance with me," she said, dragging him out. He followed her willingly. Mercer knew that what she was doing was wrong. She was dating Travis, and she shouldn't be flirting with his brother. But Connor had been so nice to her lately, and Travis was being a jerk.

They were dancing close, his hands on her hips and her arms around his neck. They were both grinning widely. It was then that Mercer knew that no matter how drunk she was, she knew she was in the wrong relationship. Travis couldn't handle knowing who she used to be, but Connor knew and he still accepted her. He loved her, with all her faults.

She ran her hands through his black hair teasingly as they got closer and closer. He took one hand off of her hip and stroked the side of her face, looking deeply into her eyes. Mercer just wanted to kiss him so badly.

So she did. It was different from when she kissed Travis. It was less urgent, and more sweet. His lips gently caressed hers as they stood there, his hands on the bare skin of her waist. And then he broke away from her.

"Mercer, you're drunk. This isn't right," he said. But she didn't care. She tried to kiss him again, but he pulled away.

"Mercer, stop. I really like you, but we can't do this. Travis told me. I can't steal my brother's girlfriend," he said forcefully, separating them. Mercer put her hand over her mouth. What had she done? She had cheated on her boyfriend with his brother. She looked to her right to see Travis standing only seven feet away, a disgusted look on his face. He walked up to her as tears started streaming out of her eyes.

"Travis, I'm so-"

"I returned the wallet. I'll see you guys back a camp," he said flatly, refusing to look either of them in the eye.

"Look Travis, I didn't mean to-" Connor started.

"Save it. I think Mercer and I both knew that this relationship wasn't going to work out. It was over before it even began. I guess you couldn't just get away from your past," he said sadly.

"You don't know me!" she shouted, "You never knew me, you just wanted me to be that perfect little girlfriend that Katie never was!" She was sobbing now. Connor, despite his brother, came up and put his arm around her comfortingly.

"You're right, Mercer. I don't know you," he said before walking away and leaving Mercer sobbing into Connor's shoulder in the middle of the club.

"Hey, come on. Let's get you out of here," he said. She nodded. How had her perfect trip to the city managed to go so wrong so fast?

They left the club, Connor supporting a wasted Mercer before Reggie stopped them.  
"Mercer, whoever he was, he's not worth it," the bouncer reassured her. Mercer gave him one last hug before letting Connor take her back again.

They got a cab. Connor helped her in, lifting her up and sliding her into the backseat. He buckled her seatbelt solemnly.

"I guess you hate me now too, right?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Mercer I could never hate you. And neither could Travis. You guys are just wrong for each other," he stated. Mercer unbuckled her seatbelt as Connor gave the driver Mercer's address and laid her head in Connor's lap.

"Do you think that we're right for each other?" she asked as he started stroking her hair. He smirked.

"Mercer, I don't think we should be having this conversation while you're wasted. You won't remember any of this, and if I'm going to pour my feelings out then I want you to," he said sadly. Mercer closed her eyes.

"All the more reason to pour your feelings out. I won't remember any of it," she said softly. Mercer had been so stupid, getting drunk at that club. She was beginning to realize that she had been trying to push both of the boys away. She was afraid of the person she had become when she was with Travis, and she was afraid of how strongly she felt about Connor. She had been so scared of being trapped in the same cycle that she had pushed Travis away. And maybe it was for the best. Even if she had been drunk, she had felt something when she kissed Connor. He took a deep breath.

"I do think we're right for each other. You and me, it just works. Mercer I'm falling deeply, madly, in love with you and it scares me sometimes, but it's the truth. It feels like, up until the day you came to Camp Halfblood, nothing was real. You make my thoughts real. The first day of my life wasn't the day I was born. It's the day I met you. That was the first day of my life. I just thank the Fates every day that I didn't die before I met you. But now I don't care, I would follow you to Hades and back. Because..."

But he didn't get to finish. Because Mercer had lifted her head up to close the distance between them, and they were kissing. He leaned over, putting his hand underneath her head. Their lips danced tentatively, just enjoying the taste of each others' mouths. Connor tasted like spearmint gum, and Mercer guessed that she tasted like alcohol. She sat up, his hands exploring the bare skin of her stomach as she knotted her hands in his soft, curly hair. One hand shifted to her back while the other held her by the back of the head. Maybe it was because Mercer was drunk, but they couldn't stop trying to get closer to each other. But Mercer felt sleepy all of a sudden. She pulled away from Connor, leaning back down with her head in his lap.

"I like you too. This is so fun, but I'm so sleepy," she said, closing her eyes. Mercer felt something move in the front of the cab, like the partition between the front and the back was moving. Connor gasped. He started screaming, pulling on the door handles as Mercer passed out.


	10. Hangovers Aren't as Fun as in the Movie

**Hello lovelies! **

**Sorry I haven't posted in forever. Things have been crazy, and I was going to post last night but I was at this huge party and didn't get home until one in the morning. I was "pulling a Mercer", if you will. Listen to the song Mercer sings in this chapter! It describes her life perfectly!**

**Mercer's Point of View**

When Mercer woke up the next morning, her head was pounding. The light streaming in from her bedroom window seemed to blind her. She made a mental note to never drink tequila again. Or whiskey. Mercer couldn't remember the details of her previous night.

She remembered the club, and the loud music, and Travis being mad at her. Those images stung in her mind. Mercer felt like shit. How could she have let herself become that person again? That person who got drunk, did stupid things, and hurt the people she loved.

She got up slowly, groaning at the effort it. Hangovers were the worst. She couldn't even remember how she had gotten home last night. And suddenly, Mercer's pain doubled as she gasped at the sharp sting she felt in her side.

It was right below her rib cage on her left side. Mercer looked down tentatively, heart pounding. She was still wearing the short shirt from last night, so her stomach was in plain view.

Along her side was a thick gauze bandage about half the size of a piece of paper. Mercer gingerly started to lift up the tape keeping it on her, mouth dry. Underneath was a gash so large and deep that it looked like something had taken a bite out of her. Mercer quickly covered it back up, the blood starting to gush out of it again without the bandage. More horrific memories of the previous night began to wash over her.

She remembered a cab. And screaming. She remembered herself screaming. She remembered a monster. And running through the streets of Manhattan. Correction: she remembered Connor carrying her through the streets of Manhattan. She remembered hot breath on her neck and lips on her own lips. She couldn't remember whose lips exactly they were.

Head still pounding, Mercer made her way to the mirror to asses the damage. Her mascara was smeared all over her face, and her hair was deeply knotted. Besides that, nothing else seemed to be wrong with her on the surface. What had happened?

Mercer felt a small burning in her left pocket. She dug her hand in, finding a small, smooth object. She pulled it out and saw the mysterious stone she had found inside the watch with the strange inscription. She still had no idea what it meant. Why had her mother wanted her to have this? Aphrodite had hidden it in the watch, so obviously she wanted it to be a secret that Mercer had it. But why? It grew even warmer in Mercer's hand as she examined it until it started to burn. The pain in her side grew immensely and started throbbing. She doubled over in pain. She immediately shoved the stone back in her pocket, immediately feeling relief.

Mercer collected herself, determined not to let on about the stone, and headed downstairs.

**Connor's Point of View**

Connor stood in Mercer's kitchen, making scrambled eggs and bacon while Mercer was passed out in her room. Last night had been the strangest night of his life.

First of all, Mercer was dating his brother. When Connor had taken Travis aside to ask him what was up with him lately, Travis had told him everything. About how he was dating Mercer, about how Travis didn't trust her now, and how he was still in love with Katie. The first part had disappointed Connor immensely, but the last part gave him hope. But Connor couldn't allow himself to hope. What had happened between him and Mercer last night was a mistake.

Mercer had kissed him last night. Multiple times. But she had been drunk. It was stupid of Connor to take advantage of her while she was like that. It wasn't right. He wanted to be with Mercer, but not like this. He felt terrible about it. Connor had hurt his brother. Travis may not have loved Mercer, but Connor had betrayed him. Connor was worried. Travis had left the club with no explanation, and now he was nowhere to be found. He had said he was going back to camp, but Connor couldn't help his concern, seeing as him and Mercer had been attacked by a monster last night.

Connor tried not to think of the horrific event, but he couldn't help it. The cab driver had turned out to be a chimaera in disguise. Connor had had to fight the thing off all while Mercer was passed out. His stomach felt sick as he remember running through alleys, hiding in back corners to escape the thing. Mercer had woken up, but she was in no state to fight. Connor normally would have been able to fight with much more ease, but having to protect drunk Mercer at the same time made it impossible to get in a good swipe with his sword. It didn't help that the chimaera had disconnected Connor's kneecap from the rest of his knee.

But the most stomach churning event of the evening had been when the thing had taken a bite out of Mercer. That was another reason Connor felt terrible. He was supposed to protect her on this trip, and he had failed. She had gotten hurt because he wasn't paying attention. If Connor had just realized that there was something strange about the driver earlier, Mercer wouldn't be lying in bed with that huge gash in her side. They had finally escaped after Connor stabbed the monster and carried Mercer ten blocks back to the apartment on his injured leg. She had lost so much blood.

Connor had tried to feed her ambrosia, but something about the alcohol made it less effective in her body. He had been too nervous to give her any more. The best he could do was to bandage her side and watch her to make sure she didn't sleep on it. He had stayed up with her all night.

She stumbled down the stairs, clumsily gripping the railing and rubbing her eyes. Connor immediately rushed to her side,forgetting about the breakfast he was making.

"Easy, easy," he said soothingly. Mercer put her arm around his shoulder and Connor lifted her legs out from under her.

"I'm fine," she insisted weakly, but Connor could see that it wasn't true. She had huge bags under her eyes, accentuated by her ruined makeup, and her face was pale from the effort it took just to walk down a portion of the stairs. Connor felt a pang in his chest.

Connor set her down in one of the chairs near the table. The one thing Mercer's family needed more of was comfortable furniture. Everything was so stylish, and stiff. Connor stood nervously at her side as she put her head between her hands.

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer was panicking. Connor was just standing there, looking at her expectantly. It killed her to see him like that, his face filled with hope and nervous admiration. Mercer cared about Connor, but after last night, she wasn't sure she deserved that.

"Connor, what happened?" she asked nervously as she rubbed her temples. Connor froze.

"You don't remember?" he asked nervously. Why was Connor acting so weird?

"Not a thing. Just please explain this huge bite in my side because I'm freaking out and I'm remembering a lot of weird things that seem like dreams but I know they can't be because they're so vivid," she rambled, letting all her fear pour out of her. Connor sat down next to her as she broke down into tears.

"Hey, it's ok," he said, rubbing her back, making sure to avoid her large wound. Her sobs racked her whole body. The gesture sent Mercer over the edge. Why was he being so nice? He should have hated her, he should have been yelling at her right now.

"Connor, whatever I did, I'm so sorry. I know what I can be like when I drink, and whatever I did I didn't mean it. I just feel so terrible that you had to see me like that," she said, her sobs interrupting her words.

"It's not you Mercer. It was me. We got attacked by a chimaera, and I couldn't fight it off. It... bit you. I tried the best I could, but the nectar and ambrosia weren't working, and I'm such an idiot for letting us get into that cab It was so stupid of me in the first place, getting in a cab when anyone in the world could have been driving it. Mercer I'm so sorry," Connor said, his voice full of regret. They were attacked? Mercer felt a new wave of guilt wash over her. She had been too wasted to do anything, to help Connor. She suddenly examined his body, looking for any signs of injury. She noticed that his knee was in a brace.

"What happened to your knee?" she asked. Connor looked away from her.

"Mercer it's nothing," he said quietly. Mercer's head throbbed again. She was having another flashback, this time of a sickening crunch and Connor's screams of pain. She put her hand over her mouth, sobs escaping in gasps.

"This is all my fault," she said desperately, the guilt consuming her. If she hadn't been too drunk to function, they could have gotten away.

"How?"

"Because I was an asshole and got wasted! All because I was upset that Travis was mad at me. Gods, I never wanted either of you to see me like that. But you deserved to know the truth," she said, voice filled with desperation. Connor just sat there, unable to respond.

"You deserved to know what kind of person I am. The person I was at camp, that's not me. I'm not a good person! Why can't you see that?," Mercer screamed, standing up and turning away from Connor.

"Mercer, you are a good person," Connor started. Mercer put her head up to her head and gritted her teeth. The pain was overwhelming, threatening to burst out of her skull. Everything grew hazy.

It doesn't matter what you did in your past," he continued. Mercer wanted him to stop. She was below pity, and he was blind if he still thought she was able to be saved. Mercer thought in that moment that she was beyond the point of no return. She had manipulated Connor into falling in love with her, and it hurt her that maybe she felt the same way. People like her didn't deserve love. Mercer deserved to be hated.

"STOP BEING NICE TO ME! Can't you see that I'm a terrible person? I've never cared about anything or anyone, especially not you! You think I'm such a good person? Do you want to know what I've done?" she said, her voice laced with venom. Connor stood, speechless. It almost stopped her, seeing the hurt look in his eyes. But she knew she had to make him let go of her and move on.

"I got drunk every weekend, I've hooked up with guys whose names I was too wasted to remember, I skipped class every day, and I got a teacher fired because he was failing me by saying that we had been having an affair with him," she yelled. Mercer froze for a second, almost losing her nerve as she took in the look of utter betrayal in Connor's face. She hadn't meant to tell him that. She felt like she had just kicked the puppy. But she continued on. Connor deserved to know the truth about her. It wasn't right that he saw her as perfection, when she was so far from it.

"That's why Jess and all the others hate me. I got their favorite teachers fired," she said slowly, willing her tears to stop.

"I told the principle that he had been sleeping with me. He was twenty-seven. He had a wife. I ruined their marriage," she said maliciously, taking a step towards Connor. He stepped back.

"Mercer, I don't believe you. This isn't you," he said, pleadingly. But it was. Mr. Prince, in her junior year, had failed her in Pre-Calculus the first term. Mercer has started the rumor to get him fired, but had never actually done anything with him. He had been the young, cool teacher at Alabaster.

"It is though, Connor. This is who I am," she said, trying not to cry.

"And you deserve better than me," she said quickly and desperately. Connor stood there for a few seconds, struggling for words.

"I don't think-"

"You know Connor, why don't you just go home?" she said angrily, cutting him off. She turned away from him, running up the stairs and down the hallway to her room.

Mercer slammed the door, collapsing on her bed. She refused to cry. She had done the right thing. But why did it hurt so much?

Mercer's room was her own little private world. Her four poster bed had song lyrics doodled into every inch of the wood, as did her wooden desk. A wall of ticket stubs, play programs, pictures of artists like Salvador Dali, postcards, and magazine clippings formed a collage of everything important in her life above her desk. Small paper cranes hung on strings from her floor lamp. Another wall was entirely posters of bands from The Beatles, to The Kills, to Bob Marley. The inside of her door was covered entirely in yellow sticky notes with her favorite quotes on them. Another wall was a huge chalkboard. On it were her doodles, random lists with titles like "Nicknames for Future Friends", and many random phrases. Some of them were strings of words that had popped into her mind while she was in class, others were fragments of half-remembered dreams. Her room was an eclectic tornado, but she loved it. She hardly ever let any of her friends come inside, because it just felt so private and personal. She had poured her soul into her room. She changed out of her party clothes and into some sweats, throwing her hair into a bun on top of her head.

Mercer walked over to her small collection of guitars and amps, picking out her ukelele. She always felt better when she played. Absentmindedly she began strumming the chords to her favorite song, Lua by Bright Eyes. It summed up everything that was wrong in her life. She started to sing softly, tentatively.

Mercer just felt so small and alone as she sang. She had no one, absolutely no one in the world she could turn to right now. And the song fit that feeling perfectly. She burst in on the next verse, her voice close to breaking

"When everything is lonely I can be my own best friend, grab a coffee and the paper have my own conversations..."

She kept singing, feeling so guilty for what she had done to Connor and Travis. But the beauty of music was that she could release all of her feelings into the words of the song. The last chorus rolled around after a minute or two of playing.

"It was so simple in the moonlight, now it's so complicated..." she sang out, the song ending. She still refused to allow herself to cry. She missed both of the boys desperately, but what she had done was right. She had been leading both of them, and everyone at camp on. She heard a tentative knock on her door. Who could it be? Mercer got up from her bed and plodded over to the door, opening it slightly.

It was Connor.

"I thought you left," she said, looking down at her feet. Why was he still here, and not on his way back to camp like Travis was? Connor smirked. Why was he smirking? There was nothing for him to be happy about.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," he said. Oh Gods, his smile was beautiful. It was different than Travis' somehow, kinder and sweeter.

"Someone's got to take care of you. My brother may have abandoned his post as your protector, but I won't let the monsters get rid of you that easily," he said. Mercer frowned. He wasn't staying for her. He was just doing his job.

"And, you kind of told me how you were hopelessly in love with me last night, so I figured it would be an ass move to just leave you here all alone," he said mischievously. Mercer's cheeks grew red. Had she really said that? She couldn't remember.

"Really?" she asked nervously.

"Well actually, I told you I liked you, then you kissed me, so I kind of just assumed..." he trailed off, an impish look in his deep blue eyes. They kissed? Shit, it was worse than she thought. She had kissed her boyfriend's brother. Well, ex-boyfriend. But she wasn't sure. Was Travis her ex-boyfriend? She remembered them yelling at each other, but she couldn't remember if they had broken up. She groaned, walking away from the door and flopping down on her bed. Connor stepped inside tentatively.

"Is it okay if I come in?" he asked, biting his lip. Mercer stopped, considering if she wanted to let him in. This was more than just her room. This was her heart and soul.

"Yeah, just close the door behind you," she said with a sigh. He sat down on the bed next to her. He started nervously picking at a strand of her comforter. Mercer had never seen a Stoll brother more lost for words.

"Connor, why are you still here?" she asked. He frowned.

"Honestly, I don't know. I mean, I should hate you right now. Right?" Mercer didn't respond. They sat there for another couple of awkward minutes, Connor occasionally opening his mouth, but nothing came out. He got up, looking around at the hurricane that was her room pensively, occasionally smiling at something that caught his eye.

"It's a tornado, I know," she said. He frowned again.

"No. It's you," he responded. He sat back down.

"Mercer, you know why I stayed?" he started.

"Because I am falling absolutely, completely, in love with you. And when you like someone that much, you're willing to forgive everything about their past. I don't care if you got someone fired, Gods, I couldn't care if you got the President of the United States fired. Because what matters is what you choose to do now. Mercer, I'm falling for you. That's why I stayed. Because I'm not as ready to give up on you as you are. There's still good in you," he said. Mercer's breathing stopped.

"Connor," she began with a sigh, "I don't think there is."

They sat there for a few moments. And then Connor was smashing his lips against hers. She kissed him back. She couldn't explain what was happening, but she liked it. He started to push his tongue up against her lips, but she pushed him away.

"We can't do this!" she cried out. Her tears threatened to push through, but she held them back.

"Oh Gods, Mercer, I'm so sorry."

"I want to like you, but I can't! I can't be with you when I was just with your brother, I can't be with you when Aphrodite and Athena are about to go to war over me, I can't be with you when I'm so confused! You're just making it worse," she said. Connor opened his mouth to apologize again.

"Mercer, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I want to be here for you in whatever way you can have me. Whether that's as a friend, or something more," he said. Mercer smiled a bit, relief flooding her. She couldn't take Connor's affections when she was feeling so confused. It was too much emotion to deal with. She hugged him, and they fell back onto her pillows, her head buried into her neck as she refused to let her emotions spill over. They stayed like that for ten minutes, with him stroking her hair soothingly. She looked up at him.

"Thank you for not asking if I did," she said softly. He frowned.  
"Asking if you did what?" She bit her lip.

"If I really slept with my teacher," she said, averting her eyes to her toes, which were buried under a blanket next to Connor's feet.

"I didn't need to," he said, with a trusting smile. Mercer's heart fluttered. He trusted her. Mercer, against her better judgement, started to move her face forward so that her lips were only a centimeter from his. Connor took a sharp breath, about to close the gap. But then they both froze.

The stone had grown hot in Mercer's pocket again. At first it was only a slight warmth, but it had started to burn. But this time, Mercer didn't feel the pain. Instead, she felt a sort of pleasant feeling in her wound, as if it were stitching itself together.

Connor started screaming all of a sudden. His tortured yells escaped his lips as he clutched his side. He stumbled out of Mercer's bed and onto his knees on the floor. Mercer sat in utter shock at first, but then she got up quickly to help Connor. What was happening?

"Connor, what's wrong?" she yelled over his screams.

"IT HURTS! Makeitstopmakeitstop," he screamed, gritting his teeth and rolling in agony. Mercer went over and lifted his shirt up at the spot he was clutching in his side. All the while, the stone grew hotter and burned in Mercer's pocket. Mercer gasped at what she saw.

Right in the exact same spot where Mercer had the huge gash, a gaping wound was burying itself into Connor's skin. Mercer lifted up her shirt to compare.

Hers was almost completely gone.


	11. Spanish Chocolate & Some Classic Ferris

**Hey! Sorry I haven't posted in forever, I've been super busy with the holidays and midterms coming up at school From now on, I'll try to post once a week on Saturday, but no guarantees. This chapter is a bit shorter, but I really wanted to get something up to make sure you didn't think I forgot about you lovelies.**

**-Love, Ro**

**Travis' Point of View**

Travis felt like an asshole. He pondered this thought as he drove back to camp. He had "borrowed" a car from a used car dealership in New York City. He had made sure to take the crappiest one there, and old 1985 Chevy truck that no one would miss. It was early morning, about two hours he had left Mercer at the club.

He couldn't believe how terrible he had treated Mercer. He felt like their whole relationship had been a sham from the beginning. Travis had been looking to get over Katie, and Mercer was trying to erase her past. They were each other's antidote, for a while. But that wasn't enough.

Travis really did care about Mercer. He shouldn't have yelled at her like that, in the club. She made some mistakes, but he shouldn't have held that against her.

The truth was, Travis thought they had been both biding their time. Looking for some way out of the relationship. The fight wasn't even that serious, and it didn't last very long. That fight was their excuse. Mercer was afraid of letting people too close, and Travis was afraid of betraying Katie by falling in love with Mercer. They had both just woken up that night to find themselves in a relationship with a total stranger. Seeing her happy and dancing with Connor, he had thought to himself, "What are we doing?"

He wanted to apologize. He shouldn't have just left Mercer and Connor alone in the city like that. He was worried, but it was too late to turn back now. He and Mercer both needed this space apart to figure out their feelings. He didn't want to lose her, but he doubted she was ready to be friends right now. And he wasn't ready to be friends either.

He was wrapped up in his guilty, frustrated feelings as he drove into the rosy sunrise, and wondered how he would explain all of this to Chiron.

**Connor's Point of View**

The pain in Connor's side was throbbing sharply. It was exactly where Mercer had been attacked the night before. He clutched it, but the worst of it seemed to be over. Blood seeped through between his fingers. He heart pounded, but he felt strangely calm. He looked up at Mercer, who was standing over him next to her bed in a practically catatonic state.

"Mercer, what happened?" he asked, his voice shaking. She didn't say anything. She just pulled something out of her pocket and lay it in her palm. She stared at what appeared to be a small stone. She looked at it curiously, as if it

"Mercer, what is that?" he asked, panicked. The blood continued to seep through. Her eyes snapped to him.

"Nothing," she said sharply and stuffing it back in her pocket.

"I'm going to get the ambrosia and some bandages, just keep pressure on it with this until I get back," she said hurriedly, grabbing an old t-shirt from her dresser and running out.

"Just hurry," he called after her.

Connor pressed it onto his wound, gasping at the pain, but held it there steadily. He couldn't lose too much blood. Mercer reappeared quickly. She burst in with an armful of first aid supplies and a sandwich bag of ambrosia squares that she had taken from his supplies. She stuffed one in his mouth. It tasted like his mother's cinnamon muffins, fresh out of the oven.

"Take off your shirt," she ordered. Mercer helped to prop Connor up on his elbows, then slid his shirt up carefully over his abs, making sure to avoid the wound. She managed to get it over his head, then began to clean his wound. tt was about an inch deep, just like Mercer's. Connor yelped out in pain at her touch.

"Sorry, sorry," she said.

"Easy, will you? You were passed out when I cleaned yours, show me some mercy," he said jokingly through his gritted teeth, trying to put on a brave face for Mercer. How had this happened? He had been sitting with Mercer, perfectly fine one minute, and then he had an inch deep wound burying itself into his side.

Mercer shushed him and stuffed some more ambrosia into his mouth. As Mercer bandaged his wound, the pain began to lessen and the ambrosia's effects started kicking in. The blood flow stopped. There was still a slight throbbing pain, but Connor could manage it. He'd had worse before.

Mercer breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead. Connor sat up.

"Mercer, what the hell was that?" he questioned. Her eyes darted down to the floor as she sat on her knees, facing him.

"I have no idea" she said quietly. Connor could tell she was lying. His wound had something to do with the thing she had stuffed in her pocket.

"Don't lie. Mercer, lift up your shirt, let me see yours," he said. He wanted to prove how there was absolutely nothing normal with having the same exact injury in the same exact spot. She did so reluctantly, pulling up the side of her sweatshirt.

Mercer had taken the bandage off her wound. It was completely healed. Connor gasped. Mercer pulled her shirt down quickly.

"Mercer, tell me what's going on! Your wound is gone, and now I have one in the same spot. This isn't normal, I deserve to know anything you do!" he said, raising his voice. He was freaking out. This had the goddesses spelled all over it. What scheme had they gotten Mercer involved in?

"I don't know okay! I know as much as you do!" she shouted back at him, panic spreading across her face. He was getting frustrated.

"Mercer just tell me! You can trust me with whatever it is," he said, lowering his voice. He looked into Mercer's multi-colored eyes pleadingly. He needed answers. Whatever she had gotten involved in was serious. She met his gaze steadily, as if she was debating something in her head. She threw up her hands and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Look, Connor, I can't tell you yet and you're just going to have to trust me with this. I'm not sure if it's what i think it is, so I don't want to jump to conclusions," she said.

"Mercer, please, I need to know. This is serious, I got hurt because of whatever this is," he said pleadingly.

"Don't you think I know that?" she asked, her voice filled with desperation.

"Connor, please, just trust me. I know I haven't exactly been deserving of your trust lately, but I need time," she begged. Then Connor took his turn evaluating her. He wasn't sure what she needed time to figure out. But Connor trusted her. He knew that whatever reason Mercer had for not telling him what was going on was good.

"Fine," he sighed. Mercer looked relieved. She jumped up and hugged him, bowling him over onto the floor. Somewhere in the house below he heard a loud bang, like a door being closed. He pushed the sound out of his mind, enjoying his proximity to Mercer.

"Hey, watch it, injured boy here," he said jokingly as she held him around his neck. He thought he heard a noise on the stairs but ignored it again.

"Shut up and enjoy it, crybaby," she said, kissing him on the cheek. Connor's cheeks burned red.

"Connor, you dickhead, she was just dating your brother. Restricted territory," he scolded himself in his head. He hugged her back softly.

Just then Mercer's door flew open. Outside stood a man in his mid-forties.

Shit. Her father was home.

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer's father stood dumbstruck in the doorway.

"Ummm... Who are you and why is my daughter on top of you?" he said quite calmly. Mercer leaped off of Connor and stood up immediately. Connor followed.

"Dad! You have no idea how much I've missed you," she said into his shoulder, hugging her father. He hugged her back.

"I've missed you too, Merce. But you still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" he asked Connor over Mercer's shoulder. Mercer turned around to see Connor gulp.

"I'm Connor, sir. Mercer and I go to camp together," he said respectfully, clearing his throat.

"And why was my daughter on top of you?" he questioned accusingly. Mercer chuckled. Her dad was trying to put on the tough guy routine, puffing out his chest and narrowing his eyes at Connor. She looked at him fully for the first time in months. He had short blonde hair, the same color as hers. He wore thin wire frame glasses and an expensive designer suit. He was a medium height, reasonably built man with deep green eyes. She had missed him so much. They had been so close. She missed her long conversations with him on Saturdays.

"Don't worry, Dad, Connor's just a friend. Chiron sent him and his brother Travis here with me to make sure I didn't get in any trouble," she explained. Mitchell Flynn relaxed. He trusted his daughter to be honest with him so wholeheartedly.

"Well, then, I'm pleased to meet you Connor," he said reaching out to shake Connor's hand.

"My girl was a bit of a wild child in her younger days, so you can understand my concern," he said elbowing her. Mercer blushed.

"Don't worry, Mr. Flynn, I've got this animal under control," Connor said teasingly, giving Mercer a pointed looked. She blushed even harder.

"Good to hear," he said, turning back to wrap Mercer in another hug.

"I've missed you too. Come on, my business trip was in Spain and I've brought back some of that chocolate you like. Let's all go downstairs and catch up, huh?"

They all sat on the floor in front of the unlit fireplace with the large television playing old episodes of Seinfeld, eating the Spanish chocolate Mercer's dad had brought home. It was so mouthwateringly delicious.

"Mmmm, Dad, Te amo this chocolate. You know me well," she said, throwing in the little Spanish she knew. She had taken French at Albright. They laughed and talked, sharing stories of Mercer's adventures at camp. Mercer hadn't realized how much she truly missed her father. He was the most important human being in the world to her. He never judged her back in her wild days, he just listened and understood. Then her father started talking about her embarrassing childhood moments.

"You know, Mercer used you have imaginary friends. Typical for a kid right?" her father started. Connor nodded, and Mercer groaned. Not this story.

"Well, Mercer one day had decided that one of these friends had 'died' one day. What was his name Merce?" he said, trailing off thoughtfully. Mercer put her sweatshirt hood up and pulled the drawstrings so that it covered her face.

"Big Joe," she said, groaning. This was so embarrassing.

"Right, well Big Joe died, and then Mercer was so upset that she demanded we hold a funeral for him," her father continued. Connro was laughing his ass off right now.

"Stop it!" she complained.

"Well, Mercer cried and cried for about three hours straight because Big Joe had died, right? I tried to comfort her, took her out for ice cream but no matter what we did she just cried. So, I put her to bed and the next morning, you know what she does?" her father asked Connor.

"She comes downstairs while I'm reading the paper and says 'Daddy, I'm going to go play with Big Joe. Apparently he had come back to life, after all that fuss" he said. Connor was dying from laughter.

"Stop! I was a cute kid!" she said, slapping him on the arm.

"I know! It's just so adorable," he said chuckling and tweaking her cheek. She slapped his hand away.

Mercer was relieved to see her father and Connor get along fine. Mitchell Flynn had been somewhat of a prankster in his younger days, so him and Connor had fun swapping stories of mischief. Connor had her father practically crying from laughter when he described Drew all tangled up in the war general posted after Connor had switched the Aphrodite and Ares cabin's belongings.

Mercer even told him about her Ferris Bueller moment.

"It was all because of Connor," she said, looking over at him and smiling. Connor gave her a small smile back. Mercer's dad looked between them, then focused on Connor.

"It sounds like you done a lot to make sure my girl has felt at home. I don't know how to thank you," he said smiling. Connor shrugged his shoulders.

"No need to thank me. I was more than happy to do it," he said, looking back at Mercer. Mercer's father got up off the floor suddenly and started rummaging through the large trunk in the corner of the room that stored their extensive movie collection.

"I know what we're going to watch," he proudly declared, pulling out their copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and waving it up in the air. Mercer cheered.

"Bueller, Bueller, Bueller, Bueller!" she cheered, pumping her fist. Connor chuckled at her as her dad slid the movie into the DVD player.

As Connor began to settle into one of the living room's high backed chairs, the opening credits started. Mercer's dad turned to her.

"Mercer, would you mind making the popcorn?" he asked.

"Not at all, Dad," she replied, heading into the kitchen. She grabbed a bag of microwavable popcorn out of one of the cupboards and took the plastic wrap off, sticking it in the microwave. As she waited for it to start popping she grabbed a large bowl, listening to Connor and her dad laughing in the next room over. She smiled slightly. She had needed this.


	12. So, Good Talk?

******Hello Lovelies! **

**I've been terrible about uploading lately, I know. Things have been super crazy at school, but now that midterm exams are finally over I should have more free time. Hope you like this chapter, keep reviewing!**

**-Ro**

**Mercer's Point of View**

Mercer stood silently outside the door to her apartment's library. It was around 11:30 at night on Sunday, just a few hours before her and Connor would be picked up by Argus and taken back to Camp Halfblood. Mercer knew that her father would still be up working in the library that doubled as his study.

She knew that she wanted to talk to him about everything that was going on, but she was nervous. Every time she had tried to get some alone time with her father that day, he had found some way to bring Connor into their conversation. Maybe he didn't want to talk to Mercer about Athena and Aphrodite. Maybe there were some things that were just better left unsaid.

Mercer raised her fist up to knock on the door, then lowered it slowly again. She decided that maybe it was better for some of her questions to go unanswered. She sighed, turning to leave when she heard her father's voice call out from the inside.  
"Mercer, I can hear you. Come in."

Mercer opened the door tentatively, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry," she replied to her father, who was nestled among a pile of law documents at a desk. Their family's extensive book collection spread out on wood shelves surrounding them. Mr. Flynn smiled at his daughter from beneath his reading glasses.

"Have a seat," he said, putting down a folder of legal contracts and his pen. Mercer settled down into a large armchair a few feet away from him. Mercer's father turned his chair around to face her.

"It's been awhile since we've had one of our famous heart to heart talks," he began. Mercer frowned.

"You could say that again. I haven't heard from you in months," she replied.

"Sorry about that. I know demigods aren't allowed to have cellphones, so getting in touch with you was a little difficult," he chuckled. Mercer looked down at her hands, clasping and unclasping them.

"There are other ways, you know," she said quietly. Her dad straightened up, putting on a smile.

"So how's your, umm... training going? It still sounds so weird to say that. Get in any good sword fights lately?" he said, slightly unsure of himself.

"Fine, I guess. Look Dad, I have some questions for you," she said. Mr. Flynn's smile faltered.

"Ask away, I guess," he said, plastering a grin back onto his face. He seemed different, so distant from her.

"Why didn't you tell me I was a demigod? Everyone at camp says you're supposed to go to camp at age thirteen," she blurted out. Mr. Flynn just kept smiling.

"Well, I had no idea you were a demigod. Hell, I didn't even know I was a demigod. Our mothers weren't too great at having family conversations," he said with a small laugh. Mercer could feel her blood pressure rising. Why was he being so fake with her?

"You mean Athena and Aphrodite?" she said. His grin dropped.

"Mercer, please don't use their names," he said pleasantly.

"Why not?" she asked pointedly.

"Well, because I'm not quite comfortable with all... this," he said, making circling hand gestures.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" she questioned him. He puffed out his breath.

"I don't mean anything by it Mercer," he said, his voice rising.

"No, you do mean something by it," she cut him off, standing up.

"I just mean that you, your mother, and my mother are not exactly normal! Do you know how hard it was to find out that you and your whole family are part of some weird Ancient Greek deity system?" he said, rising to his feet. Tears welled up in Mercer's eyes. So this was how her father felt about her?

"So that's why you were avoiding me all day? Because I'm some kind of freak that you no longer want to associate yourself with?" she asked. Mercer's father frowned.

"Mercer I didn't mean that-"

"I think you did," she replied angrily, tears making her voice raw.

"Mercer, I avoided you because was being a coward. I was afraid to talk to you, for you to ask me questions, because I know that you might not like like some of the answers I have," he said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead and removing his glasses.

"Dad, I deserve to know. You can't just keep these huge things from me. You didn't tell me my mother was a goddess for sixteen years, and look at how well that's turned out," she said.

"I know, Mercer, alright? It isn't that simple, things are complicated," he snapped at her. Mercer felt as if months of pressure were exploding out of her. She knew it wasn't right to get angry at her dad, but she just wanted so badly to feel as if someone cared.

"How complicated Dad? So complicated that you couldn't be bothered to talk to your daughter or even TRY to contact her for months? No need to answer any more of my questions. I can see now that it would just be easier for everyone if I disappeared again so you can forget that this freak was ever a part of your STUPID FAMILY!" she screamed, spitting out her words. Her father reached for her desperately, but Mercer tore her hand away.

"You know what Dad, I'm really surprised that I ever expected more from you. I just thought that maybe this one time you could be real with me. I'll leave you the hell alone."

She ran out of the library and down the hall to her room. Connor was sound asleep two doors down from her. She slammed her door behind her and locked it. Screw it, she was leaving right now. She couldn't wait any longer to get out of the city. Being here had brought up way too many old ghosts.

She grabbed her overnight bag that she had brought with her, stuffing the clothes she had packed back in. She grabbed a pen and paper, scrawling a note to Connor. She wiped away her tears so that they wouldn't drip onto the paper.

"Connor, couldn't wait to get out of here anymore. I'll explain more back at camp. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just leave with Argus.

-Mercer

P.S. Tell my dad I said "The next screw that falls out will be you"."

It was her secret message to her dad. It was a quote from one of their favorite movies, The Breakfast Club. Richard Vernon, the school's principal in the movie, had said it in reference to Judd Nelson's character, Bender. Bender had told Vernon, "Screws fall out all the time, the world's an imperfect place." It was Vernon's way of telling Bender that Bender didn't matter in this world, and Mercer wanted to tell her father the same thing.

Mercer went to grab her bag, but the strap broke. Mercer fell onto her floor, tears pouring out of her eyes. She grabbed a post it note that had fallen off of her door. It was written by her dad. It said, "Remember that I love you." She crumpled it up, throwing it on the floor. First Travis had left her, and now her father thought she was a supernatural freak.

Mercer pulled herself up onto her feet, grabbed her bag, and looked around at the place she had once thought of as home before shimmying out of her window and onto the fire escape.

She climbed down the fire escape and dropped down into the alley that led onto her street. It was pouring rain. She wiped her tears and put on a brave face, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she walked towards her pickup truck. So her dad had kept it for her. She unlocked the door and started the engine, determined to drive as far as she could. She didn't have to go back to camp. Mercer could take care of herself well enough against the monsters. Plus, she had plenty of money. Months ago, she had secretly set up an emergency bank account for herself with about 50,000 dollars in it. It was entirely under Mercer's control, so her father couldn't freeze her account. Mercer had set it up because she always felt as if her current life was temporary, as if there was something bigger that she needed to do. She wasn't going to find out what that was at Camp Halfblood, and she certainly wouldn't find it at home. So what was stopping her from driving and never stopping?

She revved her truck's engine and peeled away from the curb, not quite sure of whether she wanted to go back to camp or not.

Mercer drove around the city aimlessly for a while, not really wanting to head back to camp but not really wanting to leave either. She was driving down West 45th Street, windshield wipers beating the rain away from her vision when someone darted out in front of her car, waving their arms. Mercer slammed on her brakes. It looked to be an older homeless woman, dressed in a rain poncho with the hood up. Mercer rolled her eyes. This kind of thing happened in the city all the time. The woman came up around and knocked on the window. Mercer rolled it down, exasperated.

"Look, I'm not taking any hitchhikers, so-"

"Dear, is that any way to talk to your beloved mother?" said the homeless woman, throwing back her hood to reveal a stunning face. The woman's color changing hair fell in a halo around her face. Her high cheekbones shifted to resemble an actress that Mercer had seen in a romantic comedy last year. It was Aphrodite.

"Now, could you open the door? This rain is doing horrific things to my hair." Mercer unlocked the passenger door when Aphrodite walked around to the driver's side. She opened the door with a wicked grin.

"Oh no dear, I'll be driving. I have something to show you."

**Travis' Point of View**

It would be an understatement to say that Travis was surprised when he saw Mercer pulling up over the Camp Halfblood hill in an old pickup truck. He had been working in the stables with a couple of his siblings when he saw some of the Athena campers come up and greet her. He knew that she would be coming back today, but he wondered where his brother and Argus were. They were supposed to be with her.

Travis decided to leave her alone for awhile. If she wanted to talk to him, he would let her find him. After the way things had gone Saturday night, he couldn't blame Mercer if she never wanted to talk to him again.

Even though Travis thought all these things, he couldn't help but want to see how she was. He was concerned after leaving her and Connor alone for the rest of the weekend, so he decided to go see her, but he wouldn't get too close. He left the stables and began to trudge up the hill, hiding behind a line of trees.

_God, Travis, you are literally hiding behind a tree and spying on your ex-girlfriend. How pathetic can you get?_

He peeked out from the branches of a thick oak tree when he reached the top. He couldn't see Mercer very well when she stepped out of the truck, as she was immediately engulfed into a crowd of campers. She appeared to be okay. Then something unexpected happened. The crowd parted, revealing a girl who was definitely not Mercer Flynn.

It was Katie Gardner.


	13. The Infamous Katie Gardner Returns

**It's been forever! I apologize. School got amazingly overwhelming. But I'm back! And there's more conflict in the world of Mercer! I hope you guys enjoy hearing Travis' side of the story!**

**-Ro**

**Travis' Point of View**

It had now been three days since Katie had returned to camp. And three days since Mercer went missing. Three days of waiting for answers when Travis didn't even know the questions. In the demigod world, three days felt like a lifetime.

Katie had returned to warn them all of the coming trouble in the mortal world. The effects of the fighting between Aphrodite and Athena were being felt far beyond Olympus and New York. It was far worse than they all had thought. Mercer didn't have much time left to decide which goddess she would stand with if things erupted into war. Where was she?

Katie had been attending a boarding school in California, where there were stirrings. It was little things, like abnormally high waves on Venice Beach, or the unexpected break up of favorite celebrity couples that indicated something was wrong. Katie knew that if the gods' influence was being felt as far away as California, something very bad was going on.

Everyone was surprised to see her. After all, Travis had thought that she had sworn off demigod life to be a normal human. At least, that's what she had told him when she left him. Seeing her standing on that hill her first day back was incredibly painful. He thought of how the hill was the place he had first seen Mercer from. The irony of the situation almost made him want to laugh. Almost.

Travis was in the Hermes cabin, sharpening his favorite sword while he thought back on the events from the past couple of days. First, Katie had shown up, ready to make amends and help out the camp despite her previous shunning of it, then, Mercer had completely dropped off the map after he and Connor left New York. The pain of Mercer's disappearance stung Travis with worry. He couldn't stand the thought that something had happened to her, because he had left when he was supposed to be protecting her. He still loved her, in the way that you love your sister or your best friend. But the pain he felt for Mercer was nothing compared to the pain he felt for his brother.

Connor had come back from New York in a worried frenzy. Apparently, Mercer had left him with a note that said she was leaving New York City early and would meet him back at camp. Connor had rushed back, practically in a delirious state with the thought of Mercer being hurt while he wasn't there. Connor loved Mercer way more than Travis ever did. Connor would go to the ends of the earth for her. When Connor returned and Mercer was nowhere to be found, he sank into a deep depression. Connor refused to go to any classes, and sat under the plants in the strawberry fields most of the time reading and rereading the note Mercer had left him, trying to find hidden meanings beneath the words on the paper. So far, Connor hadn't found any.

Travis refused to speak to Katie. She had left him alone and heartbroken, and now it seemed like she was almost trying to take Mercer's place. She had come back to help the camp, but Travis thought it seemed like she was only trying to help herself. She couldn't just leave and then come back expecting everything to be the same way it was before! She had tried to speak to Travis several times, but he just ignored her. He didn't want to forgive her. Thinking about Katie and how she had betrayed him made him sharpen his sword with more malice. He heard a tentative knock on the door. He got up in a huff and opened it to see who it was. Travis was absolutely floored to see the face of Katie Gardner staring up at him. He dropped his scowl in surprise momentarily, then picked it back up.

"Travis-" she started, but Travis just slammed the cabin door in her face. He was in no mood to talk to that traitor while Mercer was missing. So much had happened since Katie left his life and Mercer came in, and Katie couldn't see how things had changed. He heard more incessant knocking.

"Travis open up! I know you don't want to talk to me, but I need to talk to you!" she shouted from outside the door. Travis walked back over and opened the door impatiently.

"Talk about what, Katie? About how you need your freedom? About how you feel stifled at camp? Believe me Katie, I know all about your independence, you told me all about it when you were breaking up with me. It's been awhile, but don't worry I haven't forgotten. There's no need to remind me," he said his voice laced with malice as he spoke to the dark haired girl standing outside his cabin. She was wearing a "Save the Trees" t-shirt. Typical of a Demeter girl. Her soft brown eyes filled with misery.

"Travis, I'm so sorry about what happened. You have no idea how sorry I am," she said, reaching for the door to keep him from slamming it in her face again. He scoffed.

"Yeah right. Like you'd ever be sorry. God, you're the most self-centered, egotistical person I've ever met," he spat out at her. Travis didn't want to hear anything Katie had to say. Hearing her apologize, hearing her say the words he had longed to hear for so long after she had broken his heart was too painful. Katie's eyes hardened as he spoke.

"I'm egotistic? I came back here trying to help you guys! The goddesses are starting a war over Mercer, and she's nowhere to be found. Do you hear that Travis?" Katie said, stepping closer to him. Travis felt his blood boiling.

"There's war coming, and Mercer is gone. She abandoned you. She clearly doesn't care about anything or anyone but herself! How am I the egotistical one?" she screamed at him. Travis felt about ready to explode in rage, but he held it in.

"How dare you. How dare you stand where she stood and insult her memory. Mercer could be dead, you know, and all you care about is saving your own skin. I know why you really came back. I know why you're here," he said in an eerily calm manner. Travis didn't want to give her the satisfaction of getting angry.

"You're here, because you saw what you saw in California, and now you think there's a fight coming. A fight that's going to force people to take sides," Travis continued. Katie's angry, proud expression began to falter. He was beginning to shake her confidence.

"And when the time comes, you don't want to be caught on the wrong side," he said.

"That's not true," Katie interrupted in a quiet voice.

"Don't act like it isn't!" Travis shouted, letting his anger get the best of him.

"You don't care what happens to me," he continued.

"That's not true," she repeated.

"...What happens to Mercer, or what happens to any of us at camp!"

"That's not true" she repeated again.

" You're just here to get Chiron to protect you and to try to save your own ass-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Katie screamed at the top of her lungs.

"It's not? THEN WHAT IS TRUE KATIE?" he yelled desperately. Katie's expression towards him softened.

"How does someone that you love, and that you think loves you, just leave without a trace. Without telling anyone where they're going when they promised they would be back? Tell me, how do you go on without your best friend in the entire world? Because I don't think he can do it, Katie. I don't think either of us can," Travis said, his voice breaking with emotion as tears streamed down his face. He wondered if Katie knew that he was talking about Mercer and Connor. Days of repressed emotion poured out of him. He had spent the last three days trying to be strong for Connor, but Travis couldn't bear the fear he had that something terrible had happened to Mercer. How could she have just left them? Travis wasn't really that angry at Katie anymore. In his mind, he had just focused his anger towards Mercer at her.

Katie wrapped an arm around Travis as the tears poured down his face. It felt like the first rain after a drought. He had deprived himself of emotion for so long that it hit him all at once with the force of a train. He sat with Katie inside the cabin for about a half an hour, just crying into her shoulder. It felt good to not have to be strong for someone else. He felt so guilty for being such a jerk to Mercer while she was around, and now that she was gone he might never get to apologize to her.

"I know. I'm so sorry Travis. You don't deserve this," she said, as he finally was able to get his emotions under control. So much for being a big tough demigod.

"But that's the thing. I do deserve this. But she doesn't. I was awful to her. I treated her like shit when we were together," he said. He kicked himself mentally. He hadn't meant to let the fact that they had been dating slip. It was supposed to be a secret. Well, except from Connor, who he had told at the nightclub that night. Katie took a sharp breath.

"I'm sorry Travis. I didn't know you two were... together" she said with a slight grimace. It was almost as if the word pained Katie. As if she still had feelings for Travis. Travis snorted.

"Together. Like you could even call it that. I wanted to keep it a secret, which ruined everything. And then Connor fell in love with her and everything got all messed up beyond belief. I was scared of Mercer, because she was different and so incredibly bold. I act like I'm this big tough prankster and nothing gets to me. But she's far braver than I ever was. I wasn't ready for a relationship, and instead of being a man and telling her that I kept her hanging on like an idiot. She's been hurt before, and I took advantage of her. I was miserable after I broke up with you, and I wanted her to be miserable too," Travis said.

"I was so stupid. And now she's gone, and I'll never get to apologize for everything I did. I was supposed to be protecting her! Chiron had sent us with her to New York to keep her safe, and I didn't do that! I was petty and selfish because I was mad that she kissed my brother," Travis said desperately. Katie rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I know, I know. But we just have to keep on going. For Mercer's sake. We can't give up now, we have to do whatever it takes to get her back," Katie said with resolve. Travis looked at her curiously.

"What do you mean? She's gone, Katie" he said in a hollow voice. Katie shook her head.

"I refuse to believe that. And if you're going to get through this, you have to believe it to. I'm not ready to give up on Mercer just yet. From what I've heard, she wouldn't be the kind of girl to make any stupid mistakes and get herself killed. She's still out there somewhere, but something's keeping her from coming back. She has a plan. We just have to figure out what that plan is," Katie said determinedly, trying to cheer Travis up. Travis couldn't believe it. Here was his ex-girlfriend, trying to comfort him over his other ex-girlfriend. He had forgotten how kind Katie could be.

"You really think so?" Travis asked. Katie gave him a tentative smile, her dark hair falling in her face.

"Yeah. I do. We'll send her an Iris message every hour, on the hour," Katie schemed.

"We've already sent her messages. We can't get through to her," Travis said.

"Well, then, we'll go to New York. We'll... retrace her steps! Follow everything she did the night she left, talk to her father, find out exactly what happened that night that made her want to leave. We'll track her license plate, her credit cards, anything we can-"

Travis cut Katie off with a huge hug. She tensed at first, but then released and hugged him back.

"Thank you Katie. You don't know how much this means to mean. How much it will mean to Connor," he said into her shoulder. They released each other. She smiled a bit at him.

"No problem. I was a complete and total jerk to you when we broke up. Anything I can do to try and make up for that is worth it in itself. I really am sorry. For everything," she replied. Travis smiled at her.

"You know, I spent so long trying to hate you last year that I forgot how nice you can be," he said with a half smile. She smiled back.

"But I never could. Hate, you, I mean. I tried, but I could never hate you. I'm sorry for everything, too," he said. He gazed into her deep brown eyes, the eyes that had haunted him for months in his dreams. Now that Katie was here, in person, apologizing, they didn't have so much power over him anymore. Katie took a deep breath, sticking out her hand.

"Friends?" she asked hesitantly. Travis smiled.

"Friends," he replied, shaking her hand.


	14. Whatever Happened to Mercer?

**Author's Note**

**I'm so sorry it's been months since I posted! I kind of forgot about this. Anyways, a song I think goes really well with this chapter is What Ever Happened? by The Strokes. I think it describes how Connor is feeling really well, so go check it out if you want to! To anyone who has stayed with this story, I seriously love you. **

**You're the shit.**

**-Ro**

* * *

**Connor's Point of View**

Connor sat in the Hermes Cabin, staring at his hands. The past few days, he had been unable to do anything except sit and worry about where Mercer was. He couldn't stand the cold, sinking feeling he had in his gut that every day they didn't find her meant there was more of a chance that she was already dead. That was how things went for demigods.

Why had she left him? How could she have done that to him? The pain he felt whenever he asked himself these questions threatened to crush him at any given moment. What was even worse was the guilt he felt that maybe he had done something that had made her want to leave.

Travis and Katie had gone into spy mode, doing everything they could to track down Mercer. So far, tracking her license plates, her credit cards, and even hacking into the entire New York City security camera system with the help of the Athene kids had yielded no new clues about Mercer's whereabouts. Connor knew she was too smart to let herself be found so easily, but he let Katie and Travis try anyways because it seemed that having something to do comforted them.

Most of all, Connor just felt this numbness to the world around him. He went to the dining pavilion, but he hardly tasted the food he ate. He got dressed on the mornings, but he hardly had any perception of the clothes he was putting on his body. Travis had even had to stop him one morning when he tried to wear swim trunks and a backwards sweatshirt out of the cabin. Connor had taken to taking scalding hot showers in the morning. The water stung his skin and caused him pain, but he mostly just wanted to feel something again besides his pressing fear for Mercer.

As he sat in the cabin, wondering about her for the nine-millionth time that week, someone ran in. It was Travis, his face flushed as though he had been sprinting for miles, a look of excitement and relief on his face.

"You're not going to believe this," he panted, "Mercer's back."

* * *

Connor had bolted out the door at this news, his heart beating fast and days of worry lifting off of him. He had to find her. He had to.

Connor looked around desperately, looking for some sign to confirm that what his brother had told him was true. However, campers walked around the camp normally, not like the celebration he would have been expecting upon her return. He stopped Will Solace, who looked like he was just on his way back from an archery lesson.

"Will, have you seen Mercer? I heard she was back," Connor said desperately. Will's expression looked hesitant.

"Yeah, dude, but it was weird. She came into camp, and she wouldn't talk to anybody. Headed straight for the stables. We all wanted to see what was up, but Chiron told us to leave for alone for a while," Will replied. So Mercer was acting a little weird. Connor didn't care. All that mattered was that she was back.

He took off in the direction of the sables, bursting through the door. He spotted Mercer patting a pegasus. She looked different. Her eyes seemed tired, her shoulders slumped over in defeat. It didn't matter. Connor was just ecstatic to see her alive.

"Mercer!" he called out. She jumped in surprise. He ran over and scooped her into a big hug, but her arms just hung at her sides. Her body stiffened at his touch.

"Mercer, you have no idea how relieved I am to see you," he said exuberantly, releasing her from the hug, his eyes filled with hope. Mercer just looked at him with a blank expression.

"Mercer, what's wrong?" he asked, his elated smile falling. Again, no response.

"Mercer, say something," he pleaded. Her eyes snapped in anger.

"Like what?" she said, her voice dripping with hatred. He took a step back at her response.

"I don't know Mercer, I"m just trying to be your friend," he said.

"Yeah, well I'm not really in need of a friend at the moment. Just leave me alone, Connor," she told him.

"I can't just leave you alone, Mercer," Connor said, hurt in his voice.

"It seems like everybody does. Why can't you?" she asked bitterly.

"Because, I care about you Mercer! Where the hell you were? I was worried sick," Connor said, hurt spread across his face. Mercer refused to look him in the eye.

"I just needed some space. I didn't really go anywhere," she said quietly in a strong voice. Connor scoffed, pacing back and forth as he spoke.

"You left us, for three whole days, and then you don't even talk to me because you needed some space? Gods Mercer, was camp really that terrible? You know, this thing with Aphrodite and Athena isn't just about you, there will be very real consequences for the rest of us, too!" he said defiantly. Mercer looked up with a blank expression on her face. There was a hardness in her eyes that Connor didn't recognize.

"Connor, you don't understand what you're talking about," she told him in a flat voice. It was like some robotic presence had come and taken over Mercer while she was away.

"Well then tell me Mercer! Everything's always about you isn't it? Your life sucks, you have it so hard that nobody could possibly understand what you're going through. We all know, Mercer, I've heard all your sob stories. I'm so sick of you acting like you're broken and that there's nothing I could do to help you," Connor ranted in a bitterly sarcastic tone. Mercer's flat expression faltered just a bit.

"I don't need this from you, Connor. There are things going on, things about the prophecy that even I didn't fully understand before, things you have no idea about," she said, anger seething into her voice at his comments. Connor knew he was overstepping his bounds by insulting her, but he just wanted some reaction out of Mercer. She was acting like she didn't even know him. Connor stopped his pacing and went up close to her.

"There you go again, being all mysterious, because Mercer Flynn is the most complicated person in the world! You know, you're so self-obsessed, you didn't even realize that because of all your mysteriousness, I thought you were dead!" he said angrily.

"You know, you're really not as complicated as you think. You know what you are? You're a fucking coward, Mercer," he screamed, pain seeping through his voice.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she screamed back, closing her eyes and fisting her hands.

"WELL THEN EXPLAIN!" he yelled, his voice breaking as he tried to stop the tears flowing from his eyes. This cold stranger was far different from the girl he loved.

"Just... explain, Mercer. Please, just... explain. Why haven't you talked to me? Why did you disappear for four days? You owe me that much," he said in a softer tone, his voice filled with want and despair. He wanted his best friend back. Mercer's multicolored eyes looked up at him, but then quickly flitted away, as if she wanted to tell him the truth but something was holding her back.

"I don't owe you anything. I was just... using you. It's what I do with guys, you saw that in New York," Mercer said quietly. The uncertainty in her voice gave her away. She was lying.

"You're lying," he said angrily. Why was she trying so hard to push him away? Her face strained with pain, as if what she was about to say hurt her. She took a deep breath.

"No, I'm not. I don't give a damn about you, Connor, so why should I owe you anything?" she said with malice in her voice. She looked up at him forcefully, as if she was trying to put every ounce of charmspeak her body contained into her words. Connor felt the familiar longing to give in, but he fought hard against it.

"You're lying! Just stop, Mercer!" he yelled, her words cutting into him like knives. She couldn't mean any of it.

"It's the truth! I've used idiots like you before because it made me feel powerful. I have complete control over you Connor! You're so easily manipulated it's pathetic," she said, anger and wrath filling her words.

"You don't mean that!" he said, his voice filled with pain. Mercer smirked.

"Oh yeah? Just look at me Connor. I'm bad news. The kind of girl everyone warns you to stay away from, because I'm charming," Mercer said, crossing her arms and stepping closer to Connor. He backed away. He felt more terrified of this monster that stood in Mercer's place by the second.

"But pretty soon, you discover that I'm just a terrible person hidden inside a pretty girl's body. I don't care about anyone but myself," she said, her voice trembling. Connor's heart felt like it was bursting into little tiny pieces at her words. He loved Mercer. How could she be doing this to him? Why was she being so mean? He looked at Mercer, standing in a gray hooded sweatshirt and jean shorts. Her face was pale, as if all the life and vibrancy she had held in her complexion had been sucked out of her when she was away. She wasn't the girl that Connor knew. What had happened during those four days that had changed her so drastically?

"I don't understand," Connor said in a tiny unsure voice. Mercer's harsh expression softened.

"Just let me go. It's better this way, Connor. Please," she begged him, her eyes filled with pain, the anger finally leaving her voice.

"Let you go?" he asked. Mercer paused, as if she was unsure that she should say any more. She stepped forward slowly, uncertain. Connor's breath stopped. He was afraid that if he made any sudden movements, the sudden tenderness Mercer was showing towards him would quickly be replaced by her anger again. She stopped a few inches from his face, his heart beating louder and louder as she reached out towards him. Her fingers met his shirt, lifting it up slightly. She uncovered the part of his skin where the bite wound had been. WIth a little nectar and ambrosia, it had healed quickly, but he still had a rough, jagged scar as a reminder. Mercer placed her fingers on it, her cold touch sending shivers up his spine. He was reminded of that awful night when Mercer had gotten hurt, and the next morning when he had taken on her injury.

"Don't you see how hard it is to watch the people I love getting hurt because of me? And it's only going to get worse," Mercer pleaded with him.

"Mercer, I didn't get hurt because of you. We still have no idea how this hapened," he said. She shook her head.

"Yes, we do," she replied in a quiet voice, reaching into her pocket. She retrieved the small object he had seen her staring at right after the whole incident with the transfer of wound from her body to his had happened. He now saw what it was fully. It was a small stone, black as the night.

"A gift from my mother. This is what did that to you. Now don't you see why it's better if I don't care about you?" she said desperately. Connor's breathing hitched.

It clicked for him. He wasn't the scared one, Mercer was. She had learned something terrible while she away that had to do with that stone. Mercer tried to look tough, but he could see the fear in her eyes. This angry girl was just frightened. She was trying to distance him. Mercer's coldness to him was a result of something dangerous she had seen during those three days. She was trying not to hurt people by getting them involved. He looked up at Mercer. The tenderness left her eyes, and was replaced by icy hatred again.

"You're nothing to me, Connor," she said.

"Bullshit. Kissing in your apartment? Going on dates in the rec room? Introducing me to your father? Showing me the worst parts of you that you've never let anyone see before? Telling me everything you're ashamed of in your past?" he said defiantly. Mercer glared at him.

"This is not how you treat someone you don't care about! I'm sick of all your "I'm a terrible person" bullshit! You're just scared I'm going to get hurt by caring about you. And you know what? Screw "just friends", I say we're a fucking couple!" he said. She stared at him. Not with hate, not with coldness, but with a curious expression. Suddenly, Mercer was closing the gap between them.

Connor's first thought was that she was going to hit him. But instead, she kissed him passionately. Not at all like the sloppy kiss in the cab after the nightclub, but still forceful. He puts his hands around her waist as she entwined her fingers in his hair. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment for her to finally return his feelings wholeheartedly. It wasn't at all like he expected it would be, but he would take it. Mercer suddenly broke apart from him, leaving a burning sensation on his lips where hers had been. They were both panting. The sparks they had just experienced lingered on their skin.

Connor, looked into her eyes, panting. She met them with longing.

"Are you sure you really want to be involved in this mess? I come with a lot of baggage Connor," she said warningly, in a sad little voice. Her eyes held fear and hesitation, but Connor was wholeheartedly sure of how he felt. Nothing she said could change his mind. He gave her a little smile, their faces still held inches apart, his fingers entwined in her dirty blonde hair.

"I'm absolutely positive," he said.


	15. Demigod in Danger

**Author's Note:**

**Hey! I realize that I keep forgetting to put the Polyvore link up for this story. So, just search for my username, rowrites, on Polyvore and you can see all of Mercer's past and present outfits. **

* * *

**Mercer's Point of View**

Sighing, Mercer sat down in a chair at the ping-pong table of the rec room. Her heart ached with longing for the night when Connor had recreated Paris in that same room for her. She wished she could just forget about everything she had seen those past three days she was away and go back to the way things were before she had even come to Camp Half-Blood. However, when Connor sat down in the chair next to her, squeezing her hand and giving her a kind reassuring look, she regained a little hope. Maybe, with people like Connor on her side, things would work out okay. She picked at the hem of her fraying gray sweatshirt nervously. It was the only clothing she had taken with her those three days. Her blond hair hung in her face, stringy and slightly matted. She had brushed it in three days, and her jeans were stained with dirt.

Chiron, in his wheelchair form, wheeled himself over to the table. When Mercer had come back that afternoon, he had been very understanding, not pressing her to tell him what happened until she was ready. Now the time had come for her to reveal everything, including where she had gone, what she had seen, and what she now knew about the prophecy. She took a deep breath, and looked into Connor's reassuring eyes to gain a little strength before she spoke.

"So, I guess I should start from when I left the apartment. I got into a huge fight with my dad. I just felt so... worthless, I guess. I just felt that by staying around, I was doing more harm than good. People kept getting hurt because of me," Mercer said, remembering how Connor had taken Mercer's wound. She shivered. Connor squeezed her hand reassuringly again, but didn't interrupt her.

"I left Connor the note, and I had about $500 on my debit card, so I figured I could just take my truck and get out of the city before anyone really noticed I was gone. I still don't know really where I planned on going. I think it was just the idea of leaving everything behind that intrigued me the most. You know, just getting up and driving off into the sunset to find new and better things," she said bitterly. Little had Mercer known that the knowledge she would find on her journey would be enough to keep her up at night, tortured by her dreams.

"Then, Aphrodite found me driving around aimlessly," Mercer continued, her voice became shaky. She really didn't want to remember the rest, to tell Connor and Chiron about what Aphrodite revealed to her.

"She told me she had something to show me. Something...about the prophecy," Mercer continued with difficulty, the pain of her memories weighing her heart like a heavy stone. Chiron looked at her patiently, waiting for her to go on. Mercer took another deep breath.

"She took me to Grand Central Station. I should have know he would be there," Mercer said, scoffing slightly to herself. Grand Central Station was a place of crossings, of new beginnings and of choices. What other place would be better to find Janus?

"Janus. He told me... he told me what the prophecy means. What this means," Mercer said, her voice choked with emotion, putting the small black stone that had caused her and Connor so much pain on the table in front of Connor. Mercer took her hand out of Connor's, covering her mouth to muffle the sobs that were now escaping from her lips. The pain and turmoil Mercer had been feeling for days threatened to crush her. Chiron picked up the stone examined it. He interrupted her for the first time, a worried tone in his voice.

"Mercer, where did you get this?" Chiron asked, panic seeping into his voice.

"Aphrodite. It was hidden in that watch she gave me when her and Athena first claimed me," Mercer explained desperately. She clutched her head in her hands, the misery she felt pounding in her skull. Connor reached out to stroke her hair, but, deciding against it, and he put his hands back in his lap.

"Chiron, what is it?" Connor asked nervously, touching the place on his stomach where his injury had been. Chiron frowned.

"It's called a sacrifice stone. I've heard of these, but I've never actually seen one in person. They were a creation of Hecate's centuries ago. They have the power to heal someone's wounds in a matter of seconds, far faster than nectar or ambrosia ever could. However, part of the deal was that the healer would take on the victim's wounds. Every stone came with a small inscription, 'Upon you, upon me'. It basically sums up the whole purpose of the sacrifice stone," Chiron explained, quoting what was written inside the watch the stone was in word for word. He examined the stone with equal parts wonder and fear. Connor's eyes widened. He finally had an explanation for why he had taken on Mercer's wounds. He looked to Mercer, but she remained hunched over, crying into her hands.

"The gods banned Hecate from making them long ago because the dark magic they contained was incredibly dangerous and could kill the healer. They destroyed the whole supply of them. Apparently, Aphrodite decided she didn't want to follow that rule and kept one," Chiron continued. Chiron looked at Mercer with a grave look of understanding. He knew what the stone meant, and so did she. She took her head out of her hands, looking at him gravely as well. Connor looked between the two of them, bewildered.

"After I found out what the stone meant, I basically just wandered around the entire state of New York those three days. I wasn't ready to go back to camp and look at all of my friends, all of the people I love, after I found out what was going to happen. It's a miracle that I didn't come across any monsters," Mercer commented, finishing her explanation of where she had gone while she was away.

"Waht? What does this have to do with the prophecy, what does it mean?" Connor asked, his face filling with panic. Mercer turned her head to him suddenly and answered him.

"It means I'm going to die."


End file.
